You're Mine
by dmnq8
Summary: ..."Nothing's going to keep me from you, Hanabi," Kaito said. "You're mine." Lemon, het. Disclaimer in my profile. Set almost 2 years after New Bonds.


A/N: I can't believe how long this took me to write! Longest oneshot I've ever done. I'm pleased with it though. If you want to know what happens at the end stay tuned for Ties That Bind! I'll be working on ch 7 of Always You next, though. I want to finish that story before I start TTB.

Anko, Gai and Ibiki are mentioned as having a mission in Earth Country here. That will be a separate fic titled Unnamed. The excerpt is for the benefit of those who haven't read New Bonds. If you have read that fic then just skip the excerpt to the actual story. Other than that, I hope you guys enjoy!

* * *

Except from New Bonds:

_Hanabi turned off the lamp she'd lit to see his room and came over to him. She leaned against him, her heeled shoes making their heights even. "My cousin Neji mentioned something interesting tonight," she whispered into his frowning face. "He asked if we kiss with tongues. Do you know how to do that, Kaito?"_

_Kaito was diverted enough to momentarily forget his anger. "Tongues? I've seen it done," he offered. As many times as he'd seen uncle Naruto's tongue down uncle Sasuke's throat, or his dad kissing Gaara or Gaara kissing Willow…it would be strange if he hadn't known._

_"Oh. How come we never do it?"_

Because it's so gross looking_, he wanted to say. The most they ever did when kissing was part their lips a bit. His face warmed just thinking about putting his tongue in her mouth._

_"I want to try it," Hanabi said decisively. She stood in his face, staring at him expectantly._

_Kaito hunched his shoulders in defense. "I don't know if that's such a good idea. I mean…I don't even really know how-"_

_Hanabi silenced him with her mouth. She pressed her lips to his along with her body. Kaito's protests fizzled from his mind._

_Their kisses were always pleasant, but this time was different. Kaito still had the image of how his uncles kissed in his brain and for some reason his body temperature rose. The kiss became stimulating in a way it never had before and when Hanabi cautiously touched her tongue to his lips, he opened his mouth and copied her._

_Things pretty much escalated from there._

_Kaito felt a stab of something shoot into his groin the same time his chest seemed to forget how to breathe. He became aware that he'd grabbed Hanabi's shoulders and was bruising her arms with his hands, but that was all. Most of his focus was taken up with the kiss._

_Using your tongue definitely made it better, he thought fleetingly. Their tongues rubbed and fought. Then he accidentally sucked hers into his mouth. She sagged against him, making him lean his weight against the desk behind him. His hands found their way to her head and he instinctively slanted his own head. Her mouth opened wider and Kaito wanted to scream from how delicious it was._

_Hanabi thought maybe she was going to faint. Her body crackled with heat and there was a sudden flood of moisture between her legs. That place throbbed painfully. She wanted…she didn't know what she wanted, but she wanted something from Kaito that he wasn't giving her. She pressed herself harder against him._

_Kaito was being shoved into the desk. He brought his hands down to push against her and ended up touching her breast. Hanabi moaned and held his hand there with her own. Kaito covered both breasts with his palms. Hanabi seemed to be trying to climb his body. Her hands were beneath his shirt, smoothing up his stomach. He bit her lips by mistake and she seemed to like that too._

_Hanabi found that grinding the place between her legs against Kaito's thigh helped lessen the ache. She did so now, lifting her knee to rest on the edge of the desk. Kaito was half reclining on it, unable to stop her when his bedroom door suddenly opened. The dark room was flooded with light from the hall. Two figures stood looking at them._

_Kaito managed to break away from Hanabi's voracious mouth at last, breathing as if he'd been drowning. His heart was hammering loud enough to wake the dead, but he turned his head to see who was intruding._

_Hyuuga Hiashi didn't have his Byakugan activated, but his face was so forbidding that he might as well have. Itachi did have his Sharingan on. Both men appeared as dark silhouettes to the two children._

_The men noted how Hanabi seemed to be laying on top of Kaito, who was sprawled across his desk. She climbed off of him now, straightened her blouse and stood with her hands clasped demurely in front of her. To her credit, she retained a good deal of composure though her face was red and she was breathing heavily. Kaito pulled his shirt down and stood up. His hair was in wild spikes from where Hanabi had grabbed it._

_Hiashi stepped back into the hall, wordlessly indicating that his child should follow. She did. Both pairs of red and white eyes followed her progress. Then Itachi looked back into the room. Kaito understood that he was to get his ass into the hall as well._

_They trooped downstairs. Kaito saw that all the guests had left. His brothers and sisters stood in the living room, giving him pitying looks. All except Hiroko. Hiroko gave him a thumbs up sign._

_Hiashi left with Hanabi without speaking to her. Itachi slammed the door behind them and turned to his eldest son. He covered the lower half of his face with a hand as he regarded Kaito's guilty countenance._

_

* * *

  
_

You're Mine

Kaito lay sprawled in his bed, thinking about that night. It was Saturday. He didn't have a mission. He had plenty of time to kill. He often thought about that night, since it was when things had really changed between him and Hanabi.

Hyuuga Hiashi had taken his daughter home without a word. Itachi had proceeded to inform Kaito that he'd be unable to marry Hanabi because their children might end up with Byakugan instead of Sharingan. Itachi was obsessed with rebuilding the Uchiha clan. He'd made resentful mention of how numerous the Hyuuga clan was already without Kaito adding to it.

Kaito remembered going up to bed that night in a mutinous funk of rebellion; no one was going to stop him from seeing Hanabi. He loved her and she loved him, despite their age difference.

_What a stupid shit I was to think that, _Kaito thought now. Not only was Hanabi kept from him, he had his own activities sharply curtailed by his father. Apparently Hiashi had forbidden Hanabi to see Kaito ever again. Kaito was refused entry to the Hyuuga estate. Itachi had stated plainly that Kaito would be fostered in the farthest country on the map should he go near Hanabi again.

As if he'd taken that lying down. Kaito had promptly used any and every trick known to ninjakind in an effort to see her. Ebisu kept Hanabi's team on missions. Rock Lee had been Kaito's sensei and kept him and his team on missions, too. Kaito had a strong suspicion that his father and Hanabi's were behind that.

Kaito scowled up at the bunk that Hiroto slept in. A year and a half had gone by since that night. His father had left not long afterward to live with Uncle Gaara in Suna. He visited sometimes, and sometimes Uncle Sasuke took the kids to visit, but essentially Sasuke and Naruto ran things now and Uncle Sasuke didn't take shit from anyone.

A lot had happened during the past 18 months. The Uchiha compound had been successfully rebuilt. They all lived in Sasuke's house now. It was a huge two-story affair with balconies and a garden with a small pond. Kaito had become Chuunin and Kenta, Kenji, Hiroko and Hiroto had graduated the academy and were on teams.

Being Chuunin was great. It meant Lee wasn't breathing down his neck anymore. He could govern his own time pretty much. Hanabi had made Chuunin, too. Kaito had thought he'd be able to hang out with her at last, but he'd been wrong. Apparently Hinata had gotten on board with keeping her sister away from Kaito. Her father had told her of how Hanabi had been all over Kaito, Neji had mentioned something about Hanabi wanting sex and that had convinced the Head Hyuuga that Hanabi was better off away from the Uchiha.

And so the time had passed.

Sometimes he saw her around the village. A smile, a wave, a glance of longing and regret. That was all they had now.

Kaito shifted on the bed, hearing his brothers and sisters, the ones who weren't on missions anyway, playing in the garden.

He missed her. She was the first girl he'd ever liked, ever kissed. She was in love with him, wrote Haikus about him. She'd visited him in the hospital when his dad had beaten him to a pulp.

The worst part about the whole thing, though, was that he was starting to forget about her. Sure, he missed her, but those feelings were fading. He used to think about her every day, dream about kissing her every night. Now he'd go whole days without thinking about her and when he did…it was with a start of guilty shame; each time he thought of her now it brought a little less pleasure. It made Kaito feel like a traitor without knowing why he felt that way.

It was only when he thought about Hanabi possibly forgetting him too that his stomach hurt. He didn't want that to happen. No one had ever made him feel as she did, had loved him as she did. She always looked at him as if he were the Hokage. It made him feel ten feet tall.

_At least that's how it used to be, _Kaito thought miserably. _Who knows what she thinks now._

Abruptly fed up with his self-pity, Kaito got up and went to his dresser to find clothes. He needed fresh air. The sound of his brothers outside screaming and playing sounded good of a sudden. Kaito paused in the act of pulling a white t-shirt from the top drawer. He studied his reflection in the dresser mirror.

He was fourteen now. He'd shot up almost a foot in the past year. He could look his uncle Naruto in the eye now and his shoulders were broad. His arms and legs were as yet too long for his body but they'd filled out considerably. His voice had finally stopped cracking and settled into a deep mellow timber, much like his father's. His black hair was shaggy, in need of a trim.

Kaito slowly pulled the shirt over his head and down his taut stomach. There were muscles on his body that hadn't been there a year and a half ago; Lee was a killer teacher who believed it was his God-given right to work his students into the ground. Kaito examined one hand. It was large, the knuckles hard, the palm callused. The skin of his right hand was toughened further from use of the Gokakyu no Jutsu. Most Uchihas who used the technique developed a harder layer of skin on their dominant hand. It was a side effect of using the flames.

Kaito turned from the mirror with a flash of his white teeth and ran outside to play.

* * *

"Konoha is really raking in the missions lately," Kakashi said as he examined reports. Naruto stood behind his chair and to the left, hands behind his back, legs slightly apart.

"Yeah, it has," the blond confirmed. "Now that the village is rebuilt and in possession of such a great Hokage other countries are seeking us out again."

Kakashi ran his eye down the report, a small frown forming on his face. "Seems we're getting backed up with missions. Is there no one who can take this one to Earth Country?"

Naruto, in an effort to be the most efficient assistant possible, made it his business to know who was on missions and who was available. He reeled off names now from his memory. "I believe Ebisu's former team is back from a recent mission. At least Yamanaka Ataru and Hyuuga Hanabi are. The other boy made Jounin recently and was assigned to ANBU last week. They're snatching up recruits as fast as they can graduate."

Kakashi nodded. "Danzo's madness is still felt. ANBU ranks are still not up to par. Very well. Give the mission to Hanabi and Ataru. Find a third Chuunin to go with them and report to me."

"Hokage-sama," Naruto said uneasily. "There really is no one. Even Sasuke's nieces and nephews are out on missions."

"All of them?" Kakashi was somewhat surprised. There was always one or two of the Uchihas available.

"Only the the ones who haven't made Genin yet are home. Well, there's Kaito, but he-"

"Excellent. Send him. His reputation is good. Or is there some problem I don't know about?"

Naruto twisted his mouth, debating whether or not to divulge the information. In the end, he decided he had to obey his Hokage. "The Hyuugas and Itachi don't want Kaito and Hanabi anywhere near each other, sir. There's a…thing…between them. Neither family wants it to progress."

Kakashi swiveled his chair to face his assistant. He gazed up at him with one lazy eye. "And you? How do you feel about the situation?"

"Well, I support Sasuke and how he deals with his-"

"No, Naruto," Kakashi stated. "I meant your personal thoughts on the matter. How would you handle it?"

Naruto stared at his former teacher and chose his words carefully. "Well, sir, I believe the Hyuugas are afraid for Hanabi's virtue. I also think some of them are a bit prejudiced. As for Itachi, his obsession with the clan and rebuilding it blinds him to a lot. I think Kaito is a smart kid and Hanabi is old enough to decide who she wants in her life. I think if they love each other, keeping them apart could hurt them. It could make them do stupid things. I think…once kids reach a certain age, they need to be allowed to make mistakes or they'll never learn. And I also think that if a shinobi is Chuunin and able to lead missions then it's stupid to try and tell them they can't see someone."

Kakashi smiled in pride. "Diplomatic and well-said. Do you advise sending Kaito or do you think the feelings these two have will get in the way of the mission?"

"Kaito's responsible. I say send him, sir."

"Good. See to it." Kakashi looked out the window at the summer day. "Ah…look! A bluebird just flew by my window. You know, that is a well-known sign."

Naruto refrained from rolling his eyes. "It is, sir?"

Kakashi stood and gathered papers into a neat pile. "Yes. It means that the one who witnessed it should cease all work immediately and contemplate the noble wonders of the day in the company of loved ones." The Hokage prepared to leave his office. Naruto watched in mild amazement.

"Sir," the blond spoke just before Kakashi slipped out the door. "I saw the bird too. Does this mean I get to-"

"I'm afraid not, Naruto," Kakashi said seriously. "The sign was meant for me, I'm sure of it. I'll just leave you to finalize the details of that mission and handle that paperwork there."

Naruto eyed the stack of papers on the desk. _Lazy bastard,_ he thought not unkindly.

* * *

That evening the blond opened the door to the house he shared with Sasuke and the kids and groaned in relief; the air conditioning was a welcome blast of cool air on his sweating skin. Konoha felt like Sunagakure and the summer had barely begun. A massive heat wave had arrived in Fire Country a couple of weeks ago and hadn't let up yet.

Aimi ran to him. "Hey, sweetness," Naruto crooned as he picked her up. "Where is everyone?"

His daughter pointed to the backyard where the sound of kids and water guns could be heard. Though his daughter was just over two years old, she didn't speak beyond Raiden's name or saying 'Papa' and 'Daddy'. Aimi squirmed to be put down after a minute. She ran to the backyard door and held up a hand towards it. The knob twisted under her mental manipulation and the fat girl ran outside, squealing happily.

Naruto wandered into the kitchen. Nana-san was preparing several tasty things for dinner. He filched a bite of barbeque pork before heading upstairs. His room was cool, dark and blessedly silent. The blond flopped on the bed and took a nap.

* * *

Hanabi received the information that she'd be going on another mission so soon after returning home from one of the Chuunins that worked for the Hokage. She stood at the gate of the Hyuuga estate fanning herself as she got the details. "Who am I going with?"

"Yamanaka Ataru, your team mate. And Uchiha Kaito," the Chuunin said.

Hanabi's hand stopped its fanning motions. She stood still, her skin chilling into goose bumps despite the sweltering mid-afternoon heat. "Uchiha Kaito?" she whispered. Her heart was pounding so hard she felt it must surely burst from the strain soon.

"Yes. Is there a problem?" the Chuunin frowned.

"No," Hanabi said smoothly. "None. I'll be ready to leave in the morning as directed. Thank you." She closed the gate in his face.

_Kaito. Kaito. Kaito. _Her footsteps seemed to say the syllables of his name as Hanabi hurried to her room, shoved her door open, slammed it and leaned weakly against it. "Kaito," she whispered. "Oh, God!"

The night of the party, when her father had caught her kissing Kaito so enthusiastically, she'd been brought home to face both her sister and her father. Hiashi wanted to throw her in the dungeon. Hinata had sent him from the room. Then she'd come to Hanabi and spoken to her firmly, but kindly.

She was to stay away from Kaito. The boy was too young and seemed to be giving Hanabi ideas. When Hanabi protested this, Hinata had brought up her sister's recent inquiries about sex. Hanabi had blushed scarlet, but defended herself. She protested hotly that she wasn't doing anything wrong with Kaito and that no one would keep her away from him.

She'd soon learned how wrong she was. Hinata saw to it that her sister was given one mission after another. Kaito was kept just as busy and social events were discouraged between them both. A couple of weeks later when it became obvious what her family was doing, Hanabi had confronted her sister. "I hate you!" she'd screamed into her sister's shocked face. "You hear me? I hate you, Hinata, I'll hate you until I die! I hope you die and dad and everyone who's keeping me from him." She'd whirled from Hinata and tried to leave but her sister had grabbed her arm. Hanabi spun and delivered an Empty Palm so strong that Hinata had crashed partially through a window and been severely injured.

Hanabi didn't care. She spent weeks in her room, hardly eating, crying until she was sick. She slept and cried, cried and slept. Ataru had come by to see her and she'd used Juuken on him until he'd had to be hospitalized. Ebisu had finally forced her to go on the missions assigned to her and she had gone in stony, frozen silence.

Neji tried to talk to her. He sat beside her one day, reasoned with her, gave her soft words of commiseration. He stroked her hair comfortingly. Hanabi had turned her head beneath his large palm once he'd finished speaking.

"I'll kill you if you don't get away from me right now. Then I'll kill Ino. And I'll kill Naruto-chan." Her voice was dead yet no less convincing for that.

Neji eyed the Byakugan she wore, the cold fury on her face and withdrew his hand slowly. _Jesus, I think we made a mistake, _he thought apprehensively. Maybe they should have let her see the kid, Neji thought. Keeping her away was costing too much; Hanabi hated every member of her family with a passion now. She was threatening murder. _And she means it. _

The next months, the following year, Hanabi had locked her grief away tightly. Her hatred she kept bright, fanning its flames carefully. It gave her strength to endure each horrible, painful day she wasn't allowed to see Kaito. Whenever she tried to sneak to his house she was prevented. Sometimes she saw him in the street and they waved. It wasn't enough, nowhere near enough. A spoonful of food to a man starving for months, a drop of water to someone dying of thirst in the desert. She hugged these sightings of him to her heart and pored over them at night.

But now. Now, after seventeen months of hell she was to be going on a mission with him! She'd be alone with him, no adults around! It was more than she could take. Hanabi sank unsteadily to the floor, her shirt riding up her back as she slid down her door. "I'm going to be with Kaito." Hanabi hugged herself.

* * *

"Kaito," Naruto said that evening after dinner. "Lemme talk to you for a sec."

Kaito came to him and stood looking at Naruto expectantly. They were in the den as the kids roughhoused in the living room. Naruto surveyed the big kid in silence for a few minutes.

"When's the last time you had a mission?" the blond asked.

"Um…three weeks ago."

"Well, you have another one in the morning. Earth country. B-rank. You'll be going with Yamanaka Ataru and Hyuuga Hanabi." Naruto watched closely for any reaction to the name.

Kaito was a true Uchiha, though. He kept it together, despite the sudden trembling in his body. "I see. Does Uncle Sasuke know?"

Naruto was proud of the control Kaito exhibited. "No. Why?"

Kaito wilted slightly. "He's not going to let me go on a mission with her."

"You let me deal with Sasuke," Naruto said. "I'm worried about you, though. I stuck up for you with the Hokage today, but I want to know if this thing you had with her is going to affect the mission. Is it?"

Kaito answered honestly. "No matter what my feelings are, I wouldn't let them jeopardize a mission. My arm could be cut off and I'd complete my mission. What kind of ninja do you think I am?"

Naruto gave a single slow nod of approval. "Glad to hear it. You better go get some sleep. You guys have to report to the gate at 5 a.m. tomorrow."

Kaito bowed himself away and walked to his room with as much self-control as he could display. Once in his room, he threw himself onto his bed, smothered his face in his pillow and let out a fierce, loud yell of happiness bordering on hysteria. The pillow muffled most of the sound. Later that night he could hear Naruto and Sasuke arguing.

"He's not going on that mission," Sasuke raged. "Itachi left me in charge and he specifically said to keep Kaito away from that Hyuuga girl."

"So you have no problem with Kaito going on the mission yourself, then?" Naruto's voice was hard.

"I have a problem with Itachi thinking I failed to act like a proper head of the Uchiha clan."

"Not what I asked. Do you or don't you have a problem with Kaito being around the girl?"

"No, not personally, but Itachi-"

"Itachi can go fuck himself, okay?" There was a loud crash, as if Naruto had slammed his hand into something. "Where is he? Off in Suna fucking Gaara. Where should he be? Here seeing to his responsibilities. You ask me, he leaves these kids entirely too much. If he wanted to keep Kaito away from Hanabi he should have stayed in Konoha. I won't have it, Sasuke. I'm not keeping him away from someone he loves and I won't let you do it either. Let him do what he wants, he's not hurting anyone. He's a good kid."

"But-" Sasuke said.

"You want to fight me on this, Sasuke? We weren't much older than he is when we decided we had feelings for each other. What would you have done if someone told you that you couldn't be with me? Aside from your bother, since we both know what you did then."

"I would have killed them."

"Right. So don't get in his way. There's nothing wrong with a little crush."

They're voices had moved away then. _I love you, Uncle Naruto,_ Kaito thought. _You're the best._

_

* * *

  
_

At the Hyuuga estate, Neji, Hiashi and Hinata were also arguing. Hanabi stood in the office they were all in, watching them. Her eyes skipped from face to face as each one spoke.

"I say let her go," Neji said. He really didn't see what the problem was and it had nothing to do with Hanabi's threats of a year ago.

"I don't see why someone else can't take Kaito's place," Hinata said wearily. She was heavily pregnant. "I mean, I'm sure he's a good kid but I really don't think Hanabi is ready for a relationship and this mission will only complicate things."

"I'm seventeen," Hanabi said tightly. "You were married at my age."

Hinata was heartbroken at the shattered relationship with her sister. Hanabi never spoke to her anymore. That she did so now only showed how strongly she still felt about this Kaito. Maybe she'd been wrong to keep her sister from him…

Hiashi saw Hinata wavering and stepped in. "She's not going anywhere. I will get someone to replace the Uchiha boy myself, if I have to."

* * *

The next morning Naruto accompanied Kaito to the gate. It was well that he did since Hiashi was there with Hanabi. The dawn rays of the sun glinted in the silver in his hair as he eyed Kaito distastefully. Naruto had anticipated this.

"Morning, Hiashi," Naruto waved jauntily. "Seeing you're daughter off? That's so sweet! You really have a kind-"

"My daughter isn't going on this mission with that boy." Hiashi's voice cut through the air like a whip.

Naruto scratched his head. "Who, Kaito here? Oh, but it was Hokage's orders, you can't go against those. Nope. Also?" And here Naruto stepped right into Hiashi's face. "This 'boy' here is family to me. You really want to go against the Hokage fine, but you keep insulting my family and I will fucking end you. We clear on that?"

Hiashi looked at the red demon eyes.

Naruto held his gaze. He made a gesture low down by his leg for Kaito to take the team and go. Kaito caught the gesture and edged out of the village gate, signing out with the Chuunins on guard. Hanabi and Ataru followed closely behind.

Naruto maintained eye contact until Hiashi turned away with a snarl. Only then did Naruto turn toward the gate. The three kids were distant specks but he could just make out Kaito's exuberant wave. Naruto waved back. Then he went to do what damage control he could.

* * *

Hanabi, Ataru and Kaito traveled in silence for awhile, each occupied with their own thoughts.

Ataru had harbored some not-so-secret feelings for Hanabi since the day he'd met her. That was until Kaito had cornered him one day and threatened to chop off his dick if he didn't stay away from his girl. Ataru had eyed the combative faces of Kaito's brothers behind him. Kenta, Kenji and Hiroto were ready to tear Ataru limb from limb should Kaito give the word. Ataru was a decent ninja, but these were Uchiha. The whole village knew how strong these kids were. Older though he may be, Ataru did not want to get into a fight with them.

He hadn't flirted with or spoken to Hanabi inappropriately since then. After awhile his feelings for her were replaced with resentment for the way Kaito had forced him to back down. He briefly thought about attacking Kaito while on this mission or getting him hurt somehow, but then he thought better of it; Kaito was four years younger, but a good three inches taller. He was heavier across the shoulders, too. Ataru wouldn't stand a chance, not against that and the Sharingan.

Hanabi walked in between the two boys. Ataru was forgotten as soon as they left the gate. Hanabi's attention had gone from hero-worship and undying gratitude for Naruto to being focused entirely on Kaito's presence beside her.

The first thing she noticed with her sidelong gaze was how much he'd grown. He'd been a couple of inches taller than her when he'd been twelve. Now he towered over her deliciously. She hadn't grown much in the past year; she was a petite five-foot-two. Kaito had to be five nine or ten. His hair brushed his shoulders, curling lazily at the ends.

Then she noticed his smell. It was clean, where before he used to always smell sweaty. He smelled of Irish Spring soap, a product her uncle Neji said was hell on the skin. Kaito's skin seemed fine. Milky and smooth and fine. He wore a black wife-beater with the Uchiha fan on the front under his Chuunin vest. Black pants and his sandals completed the look. His arms were bare and leanly muscled. He walked beside her quietly, staring ahead.

Kaito was aware of her perusal. He kept his breathing even, his steps carefully placed. Lee had drilled into him the necessity for iron control of one's body and he sent fervent thanks to his teacher now. Hanabi's eyes were slowly killing him, melting him. He loved it. He'd wondered if she still wanted him. Maybe she did. He risked a peek at her face.

Their eyes met then looked away in embarrassment, their faces beet red.

Great, Ataru thought in disgust. This was going to be a long mission.

* * *

_Two weeks later…_

Kakashi sat behind his desk signing papers. Naruto stood at his side, handing him more and taking the signed ones to be filed away later. "I haven't heard how the mission to Earth Country went," the Hokage said suddenly without looking up. "Did you forget to give me that report?"

Naruto frowned. "They aren't back yet, sir. I always give my reports immediately, you know that, sir."

Kakashi's pen paused. The mission had been a simple one of delivering documents and negotiating a trade. It shouldn't have taken more than ten days, even with travel time factored in. He glanced up at his assistant. "Have there been messages from them?"

"No, sir."

"I see. If there isn't any word from them in three day's time, send a back-up unit. Who's available?"

"Mitorashi Anko, Maito Gai and Morino Ibiki, sir."

"Mmm. I-" Kakashi's eye fell on the report Naruto had just handed him. He scanned it, his face blanching. "My god, why didn't I receive this sooner?!"

"Sir?" Naruto edged closer to the desk, reading the report over Kakashi's shoulder. It stated factions gathering in Earth Country. Factions that were known to be against Konoha. In short, they'd sent three young Chuunins into a den of lions. "Anbu delivered this, I didn't see it." Oh God. Kaito!

"Send all three people you mentioned, Naruto. Tell them their mission is to extract the first team and get back to Konoha immediately." Kakashi was all business.

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Naruto vanished.

* * *

"I-I can't run anymore," Ataru wheezed. His broken ankle finally became too painful. He collapsed in the dirt with a sigh of relief.

Kaito cursed, but doubled back for the guy. "Get up!" he screamed, struggling with Ataru's weight. "They're right behind us!" Hanabi skidded to his side, trying to help get Ataru to his feet.

Kaito eyed the back of the blond's shirt worriedly. It was covered with blood. Ataru was wounded worse than he'd told them. Hanabi met his eyes over Ataru's bowed head. The sound of their pursuers came to them and they leapt away, supporting Ataru's fainting form between them.

The land was rocky and dusty. Strange rock formations thrust up from the ground in odd places to tower over the fleeing Leaf Chuunins. Ataru left a trail of blood behind him, but it was from in front of them that the attack came. The ambush was concealed behind one of those cursed rock formations.

"Kaito!" Hanabi screamed. He'd seen them already by then, though

"Gokayu no Jutsu!"

"Shinranshin no Jutsu!"

"Kaiten!"

Kaito followed up by charging through the ranks of Earth Jounins. They scattered before the Sharingan and lightning that shot at them. Hanabi danced by his side. She was quick and graceful, her Taijutsu fast and accurate. Ataru lay where he'd fallen but he managed to cast his mind-confusing technique even so, making their enemies kill themselves. The fight was definitely swinging in their favor. Kaito allowed himself a moment of hope.

More Earth Jounins crowded from behind them, swarming over their fallen comrades. Kaito and Hanabi stood side by side, surrounded.

The leader of this new batch stepped from behind his friends. He looked at the big kid wearing Sharingan and the girl with her Byakugan. Then he looked at the blond boy at his feet. Ataru was painstakingly trying to withdraw a kunai. The leader took it from him easily and rammed it into his throat. Ataru gave a strangled cry, blood bursting from his mouth. Then he was quiet and still. Dead.

Hanabi gasped, covering her mouth. Kaito merely swallowed hard. That was his team mate for this mission, a fellow Leaf ninja, but he had his own life and that of Hanabi to worry about right now. He kept his attention on the leader. _Never give up. What would Uncle Naruto do right now?_

_

* * *

  
_

Kaito dropped to his hands and knees. He was in a lush forest that was blessedly cool. It was just before dawn. Hanabi collapsed by his side, breathing harshly; they'd run at breakneck speeds the entire night. "I didn't know you could do Kage Bunshin," she panted.

"Uncle Naruto taught me. Takes up every ounce of chakra I have, though. I mean _every drop._ That's why we had to run afterwards. Couldn't stay and fight."

"Least we got free," she said quietly. They'd been forced to leave Ataru's body behind. It would have slowed them down when they needed to disappear quickly. She turned her head to regard Kaito. "Where are we?"

"Land of Waterfalls, I think." Kaito leaned against the enormous bole of a tree, his knees bent. He rested his elbows on his knees and put his face in his hands. "I'm sorry about Ataru, Hanabi. I know he was your team mate. And…maybe more than that."

Hanabi's head came up sharply. She rolled to her knees and faced him. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you've known him a long time. I know he had feelings for you-"

"You," Hanabi said furiously as she snatched his hands from his face. "You are the one I want. I love _you, _Kaito. Ataru was my friend, but it wasn't like that between us. At least not from my side. God, Kaito, how could you think I'd want anyone but you? Have you forgotten me during the past year??" Her eyes were starting to get glassy.

Kaito stared at her. "All I did was think of you," he whispered. He traced her smiling mouth with one finger. He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to grab her into his arms and kiss her like he'd done in his room that night.

But.

But Ataru was dead. The Earth Jounins had intended to hold them ransom for Konoha. A Hyuuga and an Uchiha were valuable hostages. There'd even been mention of cutting the eyes from their heads and selling the Sharingan and Byakugan on the black market. _No matter what my feelings are I wouldn't let them jeopardize my mission, _He'd told Uncle Naruto. Kaito had meant his words. He couldn't sit here and indulge himself. He had to get back to Konoha and report what had happened. Someone had to retrieve Ataru's body.

He got up with a wince and pulled Hanabi to her feet. "Come on. We have to get back as quickly as we can. After, when we've reported to the Hokage and this is over, I'll come to you."

"But my family-"

"I said I'll come to you. Wait for me."

Hanabi didn't argue about how he was going to get past her family to see her. She stumbled after him as they began running toward Konoha.

* * *

Kakashi listened gravely as Kaito detailed all that had gone wrong on the mission. Yamanaka Inoichi stood listening. It was his sister's son that had been killed. When Kaito finished speaking, he clapped the boy on his shoulder. It was silent forgiveness for leaving Ataru's body. Kaito accepted it with a small bow of gratitude.

"We erred seriously," Kakashi said into the silence. "The report on the hostilities coalescing in Earth Country reached my attention after I'd sent you three on that mission. You were lucky to escape."

The Hokage assessed the way the two Chuunins trembled with exhaustion and excused them shortly afterward. Naruto caught Kaito's eye as the boy was leaving and gave him a wink of approval. Kaito smiled weakly.

"What about Ibiki's retrieval team," Naruto asked Kakashi when the door had closed.

"Send ANBU to update them on the status of their mission: Kaito's team is returned. They are to remain undercover in Earth Country, gathering information and doing their best to quell the insurrection against Konoha from within. Tell the ANBU unit you send to retrieve Ataru's body if they can. Give them the coordinates Kaito mentioned."

Naruto bowed. "Consider it done, Hokage-sama."

Kakashi watched his former student leave. _An excellent assistant._

_

* * *

  
_

Sasuke listened to Kaito's account of the mission back at the house. The kids were grouped around Kaito with their eyes wide. Such action! And they'd missed it!

"You nearly died," Sasuke said tensely. "Itachi would have killed me then led all of Konoha and Suna in a war against Earth Country." He pulled Kaito into a rough hug. "Jesus, I don't know how much more of this stress I can handle."

"I'm sorry," Kaito said against Sasuke's shoulder.

Sasuke squeezed his namesake. "No, it's not you Kaito. You did well, getting yourself and Hanabi back here to safety. I just meant worrying about all of you is giving me gray hair."

Kenji spoke up at hearing that. "I thought you said Uncle Naruto's bestial appetites were giving you gray hair?"

Sasuke shoved Kaito away from him to aim a kick at the fleeing Kenji. Then all the kids were running, trying to catch their Uncle Sasuke as he evaded them with a laugh. Kaito watched for awhile then went up to his room. He needed a nice long sleep.

* * *

The next day Kaito took a walk through the Uchiha compound. It was new and improved, a section within the compound walled off for Itachi and Sasuke. Each of Itachi's kids had their own house in this walled off section. These houses were as yet uninhabited. Kaito walked to the one set aside for him. It was one and a half stories, four bedrooms. The porch was wide, the garden in the backyard neat and precise.

It was unlocked. He opened the front door and strolled through the main room, the kitchen and the other empty rooms. Rice paper screens separated the rooms in traditional fashion. Kaito eyed the small fountain in the kitchen garden as he thought.

_It can't compare to the Hyuuga estate or the luxury she grew up in, but maybe she won't mind. _That night of the party he'd been indignant at her wanting to marry him. He still wasn't ready for that, but he was sure at last that he wanted to be with her for the rest of his life.

Before they'd gotten to Earth Country, the mission had been idyllic. Sometimes their hands brushed or they found themselves looking into each other's eyes. Kaito had wondered how he'd thought his feelings were fading. They were there, stronger because of the separation, choking him. And then, after Ataru was dead, she'd said that he was the one she loved. _I'm not letting anyone keep me away from her anymore,_ he thought as he left his house.

* * *

That night Naruto was in his study, finishing up the never-ending paperwork he was sometimes forced to bring home. The kids were in various parts of the house. Sasuke was off discussing the possibility of Sakura taking on Asami as her pupil with the pink-haired medic-nin. The knock on the study door was welcome. Naruto thought if he had to read one more mind-numbingly boring report on food stores or weapons production he'd go Kyuubi. "Come in," he called.

Kaito entered apologetically, shutting the door softly behind him. He glanced around before going to stand by the bookcase. It was the one place that was right near the fan; even after the sun went down and with the air conditioning on, the place was an oven.

"What's up," Naruto said behind a yawn. He stretched his arms over his head before folding them onto his flat stomach. He looked at Kaito questioningly.

Kaito, remembering his father's words on the night of the party, posed the question he'd come to ask. "Uncle Naruto…would you die for Uncle Sasuke?"

Naruto sat forward, bringing in the legs he'd had stretched out in front of him. This question was coming from way out in left field. He frowned, motioning for Kaito to sit on the couch as he went to join him. "What's this about? Did you get word of some danger to Sasuke?"

"Oh no," Kaito rushed to set the big blond at ease. "No, nothing like that. It's just…I know you love him a lot. I wanted to know if that meant you would die for him."

Naruto studied Kaito's features, searching his eyes as he thought of the best way to respond. Kaito waited, watching him.

"That's kind of hard to answer," Naruto said at length. "Do I love him more than my life? Yes. Without a doubt. Would I die for him? I guess I would have to say no."

"Really?" Kaito breathed.

Naruto was staring at the far wall. "I mean…think about it. If I had to die for Sasuke it would mean something was threatening him. But who's to say the thing wouldn't harm Sasuke anyway once I was dead? As much as I love your uncle, I don't believe in throwing your life away. If it's taken from you, ripped from your grasp then that's one thing. But to just up and die for someone? No. I believe there's always another way. Always. Dying for someone is…"

Naruto frowned, cleared his throat…looked away. Kaito tipped his head sideways, trying to see Naruto's face. "Uncle Naruto?"

"Your uncle Sasuke died for me, did you know that?" the blond whispered. His voice was thick, clogged with tears that he didn't shed. Kaito's mouth fell open. He hadn't known how his uncle had died, no. "He died to bring me back to life," Naruto resumed. "I remember what that felt like. Knowing that he died for me. It killed me, him being dead. There's no life for me without him, but I wouldn't die for him, Kaito. I would save him some other way."

Kaito was silent as Naruto got up and tried to scrub his face discreetly. "So," the boy said. "A person can love someone even if they don't want to die for them?"

"Of course."

"Oh. Good. That's how I feel too, that there must be another way without dying. And just because you won't die for a person doesn't mean you don't love them with everything you've got."

"That's right," Naruto said. He turned and gave Kaito a big smile. "You can love someone to death without being all fatal about it."

Kaito grinned back. Then he got up to seek out his cousin.

* * *

Sasuke had obtained another blade from an ANBU raid on one of Orochimaru's former hideouts. ANBU had confiscated everything there, brought it back to Konoha and presented the findings to the Hokage. Naruto mentioned the blade and Sasuke had made a beeline to go and request it.

Seeing it, Raiden decided he wanted a sword, too. Sasuke made a wooden practice sword for his son. When Kaito finally found him, Raiden was down in the rec room, swishing the thing around energetically. Kaito sauntered over to him, eyeing his siblings to make sure no one overheard. "Meet me in the attic, five minutes."

By the time Kaito made it up to the attic Raiden was sitting cross-legged on the floor, waiting for him. "Are we playing hide-and-seek?" the sandy-haired kid asked.

Kaito sat in front of his cousin. The kid was so smart, about to graduate the academy, that sometimes he forgot Raiden was only almost six. "Uh, no. I want to do something that I'm probably going to get in trouble for."

"That's the best kind of fun." Raiden nodded sagely.

Kaito tilted his head. "You mean you do things that get you in trouble on purpose?"

"Well, not exactly," Raiden drawled. "But I look for loopholes whenever I can."

"Oh. Well, I need your help. And it's not 'fun'. It's just something I need to do."

"Sure," Raiden said brightly. "What do you need?"

"Before I get into that," Kaito held up a hand, "I want you to know that I'm not trying to take advantage of you and your powers. This is a…um…" Kaito wracked his brains for a suitable term. "A business transaction."

Raiden seemed thoughtful. "Like a trade?"

"Yeah, just like that," Kaito said. "We both get something from this. So I guess the question is what do you want from me for your help?"

Raiden considered this. "Gee, I don't know. How much trouble are we talking about?"

"My dad, your papa and the entire Hyuuga clan will probably hang me, have my remains drawn and quartered and then salt the earth where I'm buried. If I'm lucky." Kaito said this all matter-of-factly.

"So this is big," Raiden surmised. "Means I get to ask for something big."

Kaito nodded.

"Hm. Hard to decide…the possibilities." Raiden perked up. "I know what I want."

"You do?"

"Yup. The next time you have a B or A-rank mission I want to go with you."

Kaito was well aware of the magnitude of what he was about to do so he didn't reject Raiden out of hand. Instead, he said, "How do you expect me to do that without your dads noticing?"

Raiden gave a careless shrug. "I'm sure you'll think of something."

Kaito stared at his cousin's trusting face. He really couldn't do this without him. It was a fair trade off. "Okay. I agree."

Raiden whooped. They shook on it.

"Right, so here's what I want you to do…" Kaito laid out the plan.

* * *

Hanabi had expected Kaito to come to her the same day they returned from their mission. She'd waited in her room for the rest of the day once she'd gotten home. He didn't come. Before that, though, she'd told her family about the mission, hoping they would see Kaito in a better light.

Hiashi said nothing on hearing of Ataru's death or how it had been thanks to Kaito that she was even alive. Hinata had merely expressed happiness at her sister's return. She began to ask Hanabi if she was alright. Hanabi had turned her back on them and locked herself in her room. She hated them!

Now it was the next day with still no word from Kaito. It was evening. Hanabi was wondering if today would pass without her seeing him as well. To help take her mind off thoughts of him, she went to the Hyuuga library, selected a book at random then made her way upstairs to her room. She knew no one would disturb her; when they first began keeping her from Kaito more than a year ago she'd made it clear that she wanted nothing to do with anyone in her family. They stayed away from her.

Hanabi was looking down at the book in her hand when she opened her door and entered her room. She was a few feet inside when the door shut by itself and locked. Hanabi whirled, ready to demand who dared enter her space.

Kaito shimmered into being, unmasking his chakra in the process. He wore a wide smile.

Hanabi choked back her scream of happiness and threw herself into his arms. "How did you…when…?" she whispered against his neck.

"Shh," he whispered back. He wrapped her tightly in his arms, the way he'd longed to do every day of their mission but hadn't been able to. "Hang on."

She tightened her hold on Kaito, not knowing what to expect.

* * *

Sasuke and Naruto were tucking the smaller kids into bed. The older kids were allowed to go to bed when they wished since most of them were graduates of the academy. When they got to their son's room they found him sitting in bed, eyes closed. One hand was held beneath his chin in the formation that meant he was focusing his chakra.

"Raiden, what are you doing?" Sasuke asked him curiously.

"Trying to communicate with the night," the boy said cryptically without opening his eyes. He was doing nothing of the kind, of course. His mind was in the Hyuuga estate. Raiden sensed Hanabi near Kaito at last and folded them to the location Kaito had specified. Only then did he open his eyes, release the hand formation and smile at his puzzled parents. "Good night!"

* * *

Kaito steadied Hanabi as they materialized away from the Hyuuga estate. Hanabi looked around from the stability of his arms. She dimly remembered this feeling from the first time she'd been in Itachi's house, when Raiden had brought her.

They were in a room. Moonlight lit a red table cloth on the bare floor. There was fruit and cheese on the cloth, a jug beaded with condensation. She smelled rice and chicken and fresh bread beneath some covered dishes. A few candles of different sizes gave dim, flickering light. A green plaid blanket was spread in a corner, away from the food. Hanabi looked up at Kaito, still leaning on him. "Where are we?"

"My house," he said. "Raiden brought us." He'd watched as she slowly took in her surroundings. At hearing this was his house she smiled. Kaito relaxed a bit. "Will you be missed, Hanabi?"

"I don't think so. How long will we be gone?"

Kaito gave a shrug. "I don't know. A while?"

Hanabi looked at his serious face. What did he have planned? "Oh. Well, no one bothers me so I think we should be fine." The feel of his body was heavenly.

They still had their arms loosely around each other. Something struck Kaito just then: the last time he'd held Hanabi he'd been twelve. It had been pleasant then, very much so, but his body hadn't reacted the way it was doing now; He felt too small for his skin. His scalp prickled as his body began heating up. His heart hammered slowly, heavily, ponderously.

With a start, he realized that he was getting an erection. It was one thing to have a hard-on in bed, under the privacy and sanctity of one's blanket, quite another to have one with your love interest present. Many times he'd jerked off in the darkness of his room or in the bathroom, usually to thoughts of Hanabi.

But here she was, standing right against his body. He didn't know how to hide his growing excitement. He started to move away from her before she felt it.

Hanabi let him draw away reluctantly. She couldn't seem to stop staring at him. He was so beautiful with his large, square jaw and cleft chin. His hair was tied in a loose tail, the Uchiha forelocks framing his face. Kaito spoke.

"Are you hungry?" He gestured vaguely at the food. "I didn't know what you liked so I got-"

"I'm not hungry," she said in a low voice.

"Oh." Kaito had his head down, staring at his hands as he tried to bring his breathing under control. Okay. Better. He could look at her now. "Well, I brought you here so we could be alone, do all the things we can't do because our families keep us apart."

Hanabi took a step towards him, drawn to him as if by a magnet. "Like what?"

"I don't know. Whatever you want. Talk or…"

"Or?" she prompted.

Kaito swallowed. What he'd really wanted to do was be alone with her so he could kiss her all night. No interruptions. He wanted to touch the dips and hollows of her little body and feel her pressed to him again. These were the thoughts he jacked off to.

His dick was rising again.

"O-or," he managed hoarsely. "We could do…something else."

Hanabi stared at his mouth. She was very close to him. He didn't back away and his head was bent to hers, staring at her mouth in turn. She smelled so sweet. Nothing like the houseful of men and boys he lived with. He leaned closer to her, unknowingly wanting a deeper whiff of her. Their faces were almost touching. Her breath stirred the fine hairs on his upper lip. A hot breeze blew in from the open window, moving a lock of her dark brown hair against her cheek. Kaito lifted a hand to brush it away…

…and pulled her head to his instead. This time he was the one bending her backward as his hormones took over his mind. Their mouths were open, wet and greedy. He pushed his tongue into her mouth the way he'd been dreaming of doing for so long.

It was good. Better than good. The relief of satisfying one of his body's urges at last was so acute, the pleasure of sucking her tongue so powerful that Kaito picked Hanabi up and squeezed her to him, grunting against her face. He was sure he was hurting her but he couldn't stop. Not now that the floodgates of his need were open.

Hanabi held on to his face, his neck, anywhere she could find purchase as she kissed him back hungrily. She keened at feeling his strong arms crush her, keened at how his mouth devoured hers. It was what her body had been dying for since the first time he kissed her.

They stood kissing for a long time with the balmy night breeze sighing around them and the candle flames guttering. Hanabi eventually slid down his body to stand on her own feet again, but they did not tire of kissing. The freedom of knowing they were finally able to touch for as long as they wanted was a decadence such as they'd never experienced. They didn't plan on ending the kiss anytime soon.

But Kaito's hands were roaming. They slid over her soft hair, down her slim back to finally cup her ass. He hummed in appreciation at feeling how plump it was. Her clothes had somehow managed to hide the fact that her butt was nicely rounded, yet firm. He squeezed the cheeks in his hands, kneaded them and lifted her against him by them.

Hanabi broke the kiss, letting out a soft cry of delight at how his hands felt on her bottom. Kaito took the opportunity to turn her around and kneel behind her. He wanted to explore this hidden bounty. He kissed her ass through the thin material of her capris, smoothing his hands over the taut halves. "Let me see," he said huskily.

"See?" she quavered.

"Your ass. I want to see it."

Hanabi was scandalized and excited all at the same time. Show her body to him? Wicked! But she hooked her thumbs into her waistband and slowly pushed her pants down, taking her cotton panties with it.

Kaito looked at the white flesh. It was smooth and perfect, unblemished. He ran his palms over the warm skin, amazed that he was seeing and touching a girl's naked ass. He felt his dick straining in his pants. Hanabi shivered at his touch.

Suddenly Kaito wanted to see all her girl parts, all the things that made her female. "Hanabi…I…I want to see all of you. Please."

Hanabi felt a stab of pain/pleasure between her legs at hearing his request. God, to be in front of him naked! But she was gong to marry him. It was okay if he saw her naked. Oh, but she trembled in delicious shame!

She kept her back to him as she stepped out of her pants and panties. He saw her arms come up as she undid her blouse. It whispered to the floor behind her. Her hands twisted behind her back to undo the clasp of whatever the thing was she wore on her breasts. Kaito recalled one of his sister's calling it a bra. The bra fell on top of the blouse and pants. She was naked in front of him.

Kaito gently took one of her hands and turned her around to face him where he knelt. She didn't resist, but her eyes were closed, her face scarlet. He took his time looking.

Her breasts were small but plump and perky. He saw how her body curved, how soft her skin looked. Then his eyes reached the juncture of her thighs. He stared at her most feminine place avidly, feeling saliva pool in his mouth and his dick ache abominably. He wanted a closer look.

He stood and led her to the blanket, made her lay down on her back. He touched her ribcage lightly and she let him. He grew bolder and touched her breast, squeezing it in his large hand as she opened her eyes and gasped. The feel of her was incredible. He looked at her looking at him.

"I want to touch your pussy," he said. "Can I?"

She gave a jerky nod, biting her lip nervously.

Kaito moved to her legs and spread them wide, moving one of the candles closer to give light. He examined this utterly fascinating part of her anatomy in minute detail.

It was like a mouth, he decided. It had lips and was pink inside like a mouth. The little bud of flesh was like a small tongue poking out of the lips. She was completely hairless. He touched the lips with a shaking hand, parted them with his thumbs. He liked kissing her real mouth. He wanted to kiss this mouth, too.

Hanabi tried to be still while he leaned close to her, but his hands and the feel of his breath sent her blood racing through her veins. At feeling his mouth touch her and then his tongue she let out a small scream. Her knees tried to close but he held them apart. "Kaito, what are-oh…ohmygoaaaAAAAAAAAAHH!!"

Kaito lifted his head from her sweet and sour taste at the way she shuddered and bucked. He watched her until it was over. Would she be mad at him now? He licked her release from his lips as she leaned shakily on her elbows and looked at him wonderingly.

"What…what was that?" she asked.

"I think you came," Kaito said quietly. In truth he had no idea what it was like when girls came. The boys at the academy who'd boasted about having sex tended to focus on their own experiences, not their partners'. But Willow had made the same kind of sounds Hanabi just had and she had always moaned about how she was coming. He knew coming meant having an orgasm. Naruto and Sasuke had given him 'the talk' a long time ago.

"Oh," she said now. Then, "I want to see you naked. Then I want to feel your hands all over me and then I want to come again. Are we having sex?"

Kaito had forgotten how aggressive she was when it came to anything that felt good. It had intimidated him before but now that his body had caught up to hers in appetite he welcomed it. "I want to touch you too, but that's not sex. Don't you know what sex is?"

"Not really," she shrugged.

Kaito's eyebrows shot up. He hadn't exactly thought about having sex when he'd come up with the idea of bringing her here but since the kiss it had pretty much been a done deal. He was young, his body had needs and there was a ready and willing female lying naked in front of him. He couldn't stop himself from fucking her if he wanted to. He was only just managing to keep from throwing himself on her now. He hastily took off his clothes and sat nude before her. He pointed to his stiff cock. "When I put this inside you that's sex."

Hanabi sat up properly, her own nudity forgotten as she took in the sight of his body. So different! It was all planes and angles, not curves and roundness like hers. Her eyes fastened to his manhood. It was straight and pale with a very pink tip. The head was flared like a mushroom. It leaked clear fluid from the slit. She watched the drop run slowly down his length.

Kaito gasped as her hand shot out to brush at the drop of moisture. She licked it from her finger then moved closer to him, crawling forward so that her breasts swung over his crotch as she looked at his mouth closely. "You licked me…there. What did it taste like?" she asked softly.

"It tasted exciting. I want to taste all of you." He grabbed her then and fell with her to the blanket, his mouth already at her throat, his hands on her ass.

Nothing hindered them and their passion was devastating. Kaito did indeed taste all of her. He sucked her breasts, making her cry out lustily. He licked every inch of her body, parted the cheeks of her ass and inhaled the smell of her puckered flesh. He licked the crease of her ass and she sobbed. And he tasted her between her legs again, sucking and licking and probing with his tongue in a mindless fever of need and pure lust. She clamped her legs around his head and bucked whenever she came but he did not stop. He liked her screams, the smell and taste of her too much to stop doing what he was doing.

Then she was on him, shoving him to his back as she satisfied her own curiosity. She took her cue from him and tasted his body. She explored with her hands and nose and mouth. She scratched at the short, springy hairs and pulled at the funny pouch beneath his manhood. His cock, he called it. She ran her tongue up his cock and tasted his salty juices, sucked the mushroom head until he hollered and shot white stuff all over her face and neck. Then he grabbed her head and licked her face clean and kissed her with the taste of his come still on his tongue.

They rolled as the candles burned down and went out, rolled all over the blanket until it was a balled up wad. He rubbed his dick all over her, on her face, her neck, between her breasts, on her ass and her dainty bare feet. He rubbed his face in her pussy, his eyelashes becoming sticky with her arousal. He pushed a finger into her ass, wondering what he would find and felt her muscles clamp down on the digit. He withdrew it and put his dick in her mouth again. He loved the way that felt. She opened eagerly for him and he pushed it in as far as it would go, feeling her tongue squirm around him.

Hanabi's jaws ached with this new experience but she liked it. It was just so dirty, him putting his cock in her mouth. It was painfully exciting. She drew backward, scraping her teeth lightly along his length and he cursed, pounding her shoulder with his fist as he came again. Some went into her mouth and she swallowed it. Then he was between her legs again, but this time he put his cock there instead of his mouth.

Kaito knelt between her spread thighs. She lay soft and compliant and panting. They were both sweating rivers in the sweltering night. He held his soft dick in his hand and brushed the tip up and down her pink slit. She shivered slightly each time it rasped over that bud of flesh. He really liked that little bundle of nerves; every time he touched it or sucked it she went berserk, screaming and shaking and coming. He pinched it now between thumb and forefinger while he enjoyed the feel of his cock swelling again. She whimpered, twisted her hips this way and that, but he held on to the little thing until she was coming again. He saw her pussy lips twitching and stared in amazement. When it was over he released his hold on her.

"Hanabi?"

"Y-yes?"

"I want to put it in now."

"Okay. Kaito, I love you."

"I love you too, Hanabi."

Kaito parted the lips again and stared at the tiny hole there. It didn't seem possible that he would fit, but Uncle Naruto have given him the talk for both men and women, depending on Kaito's future preferences, the blond said. He'd told Kaito that the first time for girls was a tight fit, but they adjusted. He'd mentioned blood.

He didn't want to say any of those things to Hanabi because he didn't want her to be afraid. He pressed the head of his cock to the hole slowly and had to catch himself on his arms as his body jerked forward. The pleasure was immediate and intense, more intense than anything they'd been doing so far. Hanabi bit a knuckle as he continued forward, trying to keep from crying out. "That hurts," she whispered.

"I know. I'm sor-AHH!" Kaito cried out sharply as his cock broke through her membrane abruptly and he slid all the way in.

Hanabi bit her finger and breathed shallowly, her eyes slightly wet. Then Kaito was moving in her, making the pain burn fiercely until it subsided under his hard, heavy rhythm. Hanabi's body ignited and her nails dug into his back as her legs lifted. She was going to come again!

"Oh…Oh, Kaito…don't-don't st…Oh my G…Oh, that feels…uuuuhhhh!"

Kaito understood her not being able to speak. The sensation of fucking robbed his own speech abilities, robbed the very air from his lungs. He was powerless to go slower or more gently, ramming into her again and again and again until he exploded inside her.

He was soft for a few minutes as they kissed wetly and then he was hard and fucking her again.

They did it for hours, stopped, kissed, touched then fucked some more. Her blood was dried on them both, his come and hers smeared over their bodies and still they kept at it. When she wanted to sleep, saying she couldn't do anymore he cupped two fingers into her dripping pussy, pushing them deep. Her hips rocked and bucked as her flesh quivered around the digits and then she wanted him again and he entered her roughly, greedily.

He fucked her on her stomach, entering her from behind; she rode him as he squeezed her breasts; he took her on all fours with her sharp screams punctuating his thrusts. Then she was tired again. She laughed, said he would have to catch her if he wanted it and she ran through the house, naked and beautiful. Her sweaty hair flew behind her as she ran, but he caught her in the backyard and had her there in the dirt. Her pussy was swollen from his attentions but he couldn't stop. He couldn't. He was drunk on her, on sex, on the power and feel of their young bodies merging.

Back in the house again, he turned her over on the kitchen floor so that she was face down. She was half falling asleep, letting him run his filthy hands over her dirt-covered body. He parted her ass and pushed his cock in even though she screamed for him to stop, stop, it hurt, please stop. He didn't. He pushed and pushed on the muscles she squeezed shut against him until he popped past and then he was thrusting. Hanabi shrieked then yelled then moaned that she wanted it harder. Kaito fucked her harder.

Back upstairs, the dirt now turned to mud from their sweat, they writhed like eels as Kaito tried fucking her while standing. He was big enough, strong enough, but too inexperienced to manage it. He leaned her against the wall and did it that way. Hanabi cried when she came this time, saying it was so good. Then he wanted her ass again.

This time she didn't scream, only grunted strongly and moaned. She kept saying faster and harder and Kaito, in a fit of lust, slapped her ass sharply. She squealed.

Dawn came and Kaito was still thrusting, still humping away at her body though he was dizzy with exhaustion. He went limp before he could come again and Hanabi was sore anyway. Raiden had orders to fold her to her room at the estate before the sun came up. Kaito rolled off of her and struggled to stay awake.

They looked at each other in the faint gray light, hands clasped. "Will we be together again?" she asked.

"Nothing's going to keep me from you, Hanabi," Kaito said. "You're mine."

"Yours," she agreed as her eyes drifted closed. "Always."

She vanished a few moments later. Kaito was starving. They'd fallen on the food sometime during the night, eating like wild animals. Then they'd fucked amongst the empty dishes, also like wild animals.

Kaito briefly considered making his way back to his uncle's house, but he fell asleep before he could make a move in that direction.

* * *

Sasuke was looking at the clock and wondering why he hadn't seen the kid all day when Kaito stumbled into the house. He was filthy, smelly and looked as if he'd survived some catastrophe. "Where the hell have you been?" Sasuke asked. "It's four in the afternoon."

"Was out practicing with friends," Kaito said as he headed for the stairs.

Sasuke shrugged and turned back to the sheet of paper he was reading. He'd been given a mission.

* * *

That night Kaito paced his bedroom in agitation. Finally, when he could stand it no more, he went to Raiden's room. The boy was reading a text book on water jutsus. Kaito made sure they were alone before taking the book and sitting next to him. "I have to see her again," he said urgently.

Raiden reached for the book Kaito had taken. "Is tonight the last time?" he asked casually. He flipped the book open.

Kaito had to be honest. He wanted as much of Hanabi as he could get. "Probably not. Just…just keep helping me until I say stop, okay?"

Raiden idly turned a page. "Three A-rank missions, five B-ranks and I want you to help me sneak into ANBU headquarters so I can read their secret scrolls."

"What the fuck?! Dude, you can just fold yourself in there and do whatever the hell-"

"No, I can't. There's a blocking jutsu all around ANBU headquarters. You can't enter there with your chakra engaged. It's a preventive measure against enemies and threats. You have to help me get in." Raiden turned another page.

"Jesus," Kaito said as he ran a hand through his hair. "Fine, alright? I'll do it."

"Yay! And I'll keep folding Hanabi-chan to your house at night until we get caught."

"We're not going to get caught." Kaito did not like the cavalier way Raiden assumed they'd be found out.

Raiden was experienced with mischief, though. "If this thing you're doing, whatever it is, can get you in as much trouble as you said then we'll be caught. Trust me. I'll try not to let that happen, just like you will, but the really fun stuff always gets found out. Always. You just be ready to hold up your end of the deal even when it happens."

Kaito swallowed nervously. The kid had a point. How long could they meet before someone found out? _But I need her. _"Whatever. If I leave the house now Uncle Sasuke will wonder where I'm going. Just fold me there and then her."

Raiden nodded absently. He was reading an interesting paragraph as he made a brushing aside motion. Kaito vanished from the room.

* * *

Hanabi materialized in the bedroom at Kaito's house barely five seconds after he did. She had a towel wrapped around her, her skin moist and fragrant from a shower. "Kaito!"

He stepped to her quickly and snatched the towel away, crushing her to him. "Raiden's going to bring you every night until I tell him to stop. Did anyone see you disappear just now?"

"No. I have my own bathroom."

"And this morning?"

"'Nothing. I appeared in my room and went directly to sleep."

"Good. Make sure you're in your room every night by eight."

"I will. Oh Kaito, I missed y-"

His mouth landed brutally on hers and that was the end of whatever she was saying. She tore at his clothes, wanting him as naked as she was. She wrenched her mouth away from his long enough to gasp, "I want your mouth on my pussy again."

On the floor. She leaned on her elbows, her legs bent and spread as his dark head moved between her thighs. Her head fell back as he lapped her folds eagerly. She moaned and sighed, made whining noises as the sound of his mouth on her made faint wet sounds. His lips latched onto that nub of flesh and her hand came forward to press his head hard against her pussy. She rubbed and grinded her hips on his face as he sucked harder and harder and then the tension building in her body peaked, her nipples hardened and she came with a sharp cry of his name.

Kaito entered her quickly, sliding into her tight heat with a hiss of pleasure. He pounded her with all the force he could summon, loving the way their flesh slapped together, the way her breasts jerked wildly with his thrusts. Her face was contorted as if she were in pain. It turned him on when she looked like that, with her white eyes glassy from coming.

"Say 'fuck me, Kaito'," he ordered her.

"F-fuck me, Kaito!"

"You want it harder?"

"Yes!"

"You like it when it hurts?"

"Yes! Yes!"

"Me, too. I love your tight pussy and how it tastes and how you smell. I love all of you." He was panting, close to coming.

Later he fucked her between her breasts, coming under her chin. Then he fucked her with his hand, with his tongue and then he made her put her fingers in her pussy. She rubbed and explored until she shrieked and then he took her in the ass.

Afterwards, he asked her to play with his ass so he could see what it felt like. She found the puckered hole strangely forbidding and thoroughly entrancing because of that. She ran her tongue over it, making Kaito shiver and moan. Then she put two slender fingers inside and twisted them back and forth until he begged her to stop. He turned around, held her head steady and fucked her face roughly. She gagged, swallowing her dinner back down just as he came against the back of her throat in long wracking tremors. His come flooded her mouth, riding up the back of her throat to spill out of her nose. She backed off of him, coughing and catching her breath. She spit some of his come out as she gagged again, but then he was there, wiping her face and kissing her.

Neither of them slept that night.

* * *

Weeks passed and they met every night, fucking until dawn. Raiden performed flawlessly, Kaito lied brilliantly about his whereabouts and things went on without a hitch.

Kaito did land a couple of B-rank missions during that time. He used his quick and devious mind to smuggle Raiden along, much to the kid's excitement. The first night of the first mission, when they were only a few miles from Konoha, Kaito turned to Raiden at the camp fire and looked at him expectantly.

"What," Raiden said. It was just the two of them.

"Bring her."

_"Here?"_

"Hurry up."

"But we're on a mission!"

"We won't actually be doing the mission until tomorrow. Bring her."

Raiden huffed, but he brought Hanabi to the camp fire. He watched in open-mouthed shock as she and Kaito began groping at each other just like his Daddy and Papa always did. Kaito saw him.

"You need to go somewhere," Kaito said as Hanabi kissed all over his face.

"Let me get this straight," Raiden said with a hand on his hip. "All this time you've been having me fold you two together so you could do that _boring thing???_ I thought you were doing something cool!" His voice was high with indignation.

"Raiden…please," Kaito rasped. Hanabi had a hand down his pants. "Just go!"

"Go where?"

"I don't know, anywhere! Come back before dawn."

Raiden shrugged and Boomed to Wyatt's.

The mission went smoothly, Kaito exercising a level of focus and committment Raiden was sure had everything to do with getting back to the village as quickly as possible. He didn't care, though. He'd gotten to fight and see places. The next B-rank went the same, Hanabi included and then Kaito didn't receive any missions for awhile.

Both boys were thinking they were home free, especially when Kaito did indeed manage to sneak Raiden into ANBU HQ without incident. They'd had to hightail it out of there an hour later, barely avoiding the ANBU captain, but Raiden had gotten a nice long peek at the scrolls. He was ecstatic.

They felt invincible, unbeatable. Nothing could stop them and they would never be caught. Never!

Of course they were caught. And it was ugly.

* * *

Hanabi began feeling sick about three weeks after she lost her virginity. She chalked it up to all the sleepless nights she was having and thought nothing of it.

But then her breasts started hurting, especially whenever Kaito sucked them, and sex became painful. Kaito still wanted her, though and Hanabi secretly liked the pain. Her whole body seemed more sensitive lately and her pussy seemed swollen all the time.

It was when she realized that her period was two weeks late that she began wondering what was wrong with her. She slept all day now, and spent all night letting Kaito do delicious things to her body. Her chakra felt as if it were ebbing away from her and she couldn't stand the smell of meat or the taste of milk.

She at last thought to look up her symptoms in the Hyuuga library. Six weeks had passed since she'd had sex the first time. She stared in fascination at the words in the book, feeling her skin crawl.

Pregnant. She was pregnant with Kaito's baby.

It was hard for her to properly grasp the idea. It kept evaporating, unwilling to sit concretely in her mind. She didn't tell him that night, or the next or the following week. She couldn't believe it, hoping that if she ignored it the whole thing would go away. Oh God, if anyone found out!

Hanabi stayed in her room all the time now, refusing to risk one of her family members seeing her condition with Byakugan. She took her meals in her room and avoided her family. This behavior wasn't much different from her previous angst-ridden solitude so no one questioned her.

It was one morning when she'd returned from another night with Kaito that she felt a sharp hunger pain go through her. She snuck down to the kitchen only to pass Ino in the hall. Ino was coming home from her night shift at the hospital. She looked at Hanabi and Hanabi bolted back to her room.

Nothing happened. No one came to her room and Hanabi, frightened at the look Ino had given her, remained in her room that day though she was faint with hunger. That night, before eight as she sat on her bed hugging her pillow and waiting for Raiden to fold her away, Ino entered her room without knocking. She closed the door, folded her arms and fixed her unblinking eyes on Hanabi.

"Whose is it," the blond medic nin asked tonelessly.

"W-what? I don't-" Hanabi stammered.

"The baby you're carrying. I can sense your uneven chakra and that of the child. Whose is it, Hanabi?"

But just then, Raiden did his thing and she vanished as Ino's eyes widened in shock.

* * *

Hanabi arrived at Kaito's house crying her eyes out. It put a serious damper on Kaito's ardor. He rushed to her side and touched her hair. "What's wrong," he asked anxiously. She turned to him, seeking the comfort of his solid chest as she sobbed into her hands. Kaito tried to pull her hands down by tugging on her wrists, but she kept them firmly to her face.

Finally, she spoke in a halting voice, her words muffled by her hands. "Kaito…I…we…I'm pregnant," she finished in a rush. She kept her hands over her face, waiting for him to say something, anything as she cried softly.

Kaito backed away from her, his muscles cramping painfully. "What? That…no. You can't be." _Nonono!_

Hanabi brought her hands down far enough so that her eyes peeped over her fingertips. "I am. I read it and I feel it."

Kaito felt as if he was falling. A sense of unreality washed over him mixed with a feeling of betrayal. A baby? No. How could she do this to him?

Hanabi watched how he seemed to stare through her. She felt alone and adrift and so scared. "Kaito…will you hold me please?"

He flinched. He didn't want to touch her, felt as if her body had turned alien on him. She was pregnant. _Pregnant. _Jesus, the trouble they could get into, _would _get into if somebody found out…

But wait.

Nobody had to find out. Maybe they could hide it or...or maybe she wasn't really pregnant, maybe she'd made a mistake. He cleared his throat. "Hanabi…are you sure? I mean what do we know, maybe you're wrong-"

"I'm not wrong. And Ino could tell. She saw me just now. She asked who the father was and then she saw Raiden fold me away."

Kaito felt oppressed. It was true. Worse, somebody knew about it. He turned away from her and stared out the window, at the night. His mind was slowly beginning to work again.

_Okay. Okay. She's pregnant. She's really pregnant. A…baby…is growing in her right this minute. My baby. _Kaito felt his bowels loosen at this thought, but he kept right on thinking, pushing past his discomfort. _Ino knows. Right now she could be telling everyone in that house and then they'll be looking for Hanabi. They'll find out Raiden is involved, then Uncle Naruto will get involved and then Uncle Sasuke will have my head. I'm a dead man, _Kaito thought coldly. _A walking dead man and if Uncle Sasuke doesn't kill me the Hyuugas will. Jesus fucking Christ, I've really done it this time. A baby. I'm going to be a father. Oh shit, my father! _Kaito sucked in a sharp breath. _He'll definitely kill me. What am I going to do?_

Kaito felt himself beginning to panic. He stood in front of the window, trembling. His entire life as he knew it had just been torn to shreds like so much tissue paper. What he'd thought of as a rock-solid, stable existence had been proven to be nothing but ideas, dreams. He couldn't be a boy anymore. Play time was over, this was the real deal here. He had gotten Hanabi pregnant and here she was crying quietly behind him, expecting him to man up and do something about it. But what was he supposed to do? First thing's first.

Hanabi was wringing her hands, sure that Kaito hated her now. She'd thought he would help her, comfort her, soothe her and make everything alright but he'd turned away from her. She saw him turn to face her now and allowed herself to hope again. "K-Kaito?"

"I'm sorry. I guess…this kind of caught me by surprise." He struggled to keep the resentment for the loss of his carefree days out of his voice. It wasn't entirely her fault, he supposed. She hadn't gotten pregnant by herself, after all. He took a deep breath and continued speaking. "It's just…we're in deep shit here. Do you think Ino will tell your dad and…and everyone?"

"Probably. They might be looking for me right now." That thought made her knees shake. _Oh, God._

Kaito had figured as much. "What do you think they'll do? Besides keep you away from me?"

"They'll make me get rid of the baby for sure. One time my dad locked my sister in the dungeon with Neji for two whole weeks until their friends came and got them. I heard about it. He whipped her bloody, too, and all she'd done was listen to music and leave the village once. This is much worse, he'll probably stick me down there too."

Kaito knew of that incident. Naruto and Sasuke had told the kids back when they'd lived on the mountain. Disturbing as what she said was, he ignored all that to latch onto the one phrase he hadn't understood. "Get rid of it? Like…give it to other people?"

"No. I mean kill it. Before it's born."

Kaito frowned. "But…that's my baby, too."

Hanabi was silent. The way Kaito claimed the baby gave her a warm feeling, helped dispel some of her fear.

_Well, that changes things, _Kaito thought furiously. He felt possessiveness for the baby leap inside him, obliterating much of his fear and doubt. They were not going to kill his baby, not if he could help it. He walked over to Hanabi and hesitantly put his arms around her. She went to him with a cry of pent up tension, weeping all over again. "Shhhh," he soothed. "I'm not going to let them do that. Unless…you want them to get rid of it?"

Hanabi didn't. When she wasn't busy denying her delicate condition, she spent her time dreaming about the baby and the fact that she had a part of Kaito living and growing inside of her. It made her feel special and humble. She felt pride at carrying his child. She didn't want them to take it. "No. I want the baby. It's our baby, Kaito."

"Yeah," Kaito said. She couldn't go home, he decided. He'd never see her again and the baby would be dead before he knew it. No. She had to stay here. Except, how could she stay here, he couldn't stay with her. Not unless...

Kaito tightened his mouth in resignation. He was Uchiha. He was not going to shirk his responsibilities or have his kid die because he was too chickenshit to do what he was supposed to do. He wasn't going out like that. "Hanabi," he said against her warm hair. "Will you…will you marry me?"

She stopped breathing. Her heart thudded in her chest as she leaned back enough to look at his face. His jaw was tight with determination. "Marry you? Kaito, you really mean that? But…"

"But what? I love you. I want to be with you. And this is the only way we can be together. They won't try to keep us apart if we're married and then we can keep the baby."

"But…you're underage," she said softly. She paused at hearing her own words. She'd never really stopped to think just how young he was. He was so tall and sure of himself that she tended to think of him as being much older than his years. In truth he was little more than a boy.

Kaito considered her words. It was true, he had to be eighteen in order to be able to legally wed, while girls only had to be sixteen. He was a minor. He'd need the consent of a guardian. "We'll have to lie. Marry outside the village."

"Oh. And then?"

"Then," Kaito looked around his empty bedroom. "If you don't mind it, we can live here. I'll…take care of you."

Hanabi suddenly smiled. He wasn't a boy, he was her Kaito and he was going to make everything all better just as she'd hoped he would. "Oh Kaito! I'll be the best wife and the best mother." She hugged him fiercely, kissing his chest. "Yes, I will marry you."

Kaito felt himself smiling in response to the relief on her face. He hadn't realized how scared she must be. After all, she was the one carrying the thing. What must that be like? "Does it hurt?" he asked.

Hanabi knelt with him on the floor. "Not really. Sometimes when we're making love it hurts. Mostly I just feel tired and headachy. When will we leave?"

Kaito had been staring at her stomach with his Sharingan. He could see a small pulse of chakra that was different from hers but that was all. He came out of his thoughts. "Now. Tonight."

Hanabi nodded. She had perfect trust in him. Kaito looked at her sitting in front of him and suddenly felt his lust creep up on him again. He wanted her. Now, before they left to get married.

"Do you think…will it be okay if…I don't want to hurt you," he finished lamely.

Hanabi understood. She suddenly wanted him too and catapulted herself against his chest. He fell backward with her on top of him, already kissing her crazily.

No matter his mixed feelings for his impending fatherhood, the idea of the baby in her fanned the fires of his passion for her body. He turned to slam her onto her back, forgetting to be gentle. His hands covered her breasts, noticing now how they seemed plumper, fuller. She arched into him, moaning as he wrapped her legs around his jeans-clad waist. She grabbed his hair, pulling his head back so she could bite his chin and suck his neck. Kaito struggled to remove her clothes without leaving her body. He managed to rip her panties under her skirt and free his cock from his pants. He entered her sopping wet pussy, swallowing her shrill cries with his mouth.

He buried his face in her neck, biting her skin as he pumped her hard and fast. Their clothes were still on; he hadn't managed to undress them before he'd needed to be inside her. The thought of his cock being where his baby was had him burning with desire, growling low in his throat as he felt her tightening around his shaft. She was going to come, he realized. He leaned up on an elbow to watch her face when it happened. Her breath froze, stuttered, shivered from her on a sigh of his name. He didn't stop fucking her while she squeezed around him rhythmically. He only slammed into her harder and faster, lacing his free hand through hers and holding their palms pressed to the floor by her head. "Look at me," he panted. They locked eyes as he moved on her and in her and his love was a painful vise killing his heart with its intensity. The last of his resentment was crushed in that vise and a sweeping protectiveness for her and the baby descended on him. "I won't die for you," he said to her flushed face as he fucked her. "But I will kill for you and the baby, Hanabi. I'll kill anyone who tries to hurt you or our baby." Tears flooded her eyes at this declaration and he came long and hard inside her heat.

Kaito leaned his forehead against hers as he caught his breath. He wanted her again, wanted to spend the night fucking her and learning about their bodies the way he was accustomed to doing. He forced himself to think and make plans.

It was decided that they needed their documentation from their respective houses. Kaito could retrieve his without much trouble, but they didn't know how to get Hanabi's without running into her family. Kaito told her to stay at his house and he would think of something. Hanabi agreed. He made a clone to stay with her and left his house quickly, eager to be away before anything else went wrong.

* * *

Kaito estimated the time to be just before ten p.m. He walked into the house and heard Uncle Sasuke and Naruto fucking from all the way downstairs. He crept silently to the room he shared with three of his brothers, opening the door as quietly as he possibly could. The bunk Kenta and Kenji shared rang with snores. Hiroto was a shapeless mound on the top bunk he shared with Kaito. Kaito searched his desk until he found his papers. He looked at them.

It stated plain as day that he was Uchiha Sasuke Kaito, Chuunin, citizen of Konohagakure and fourteen years old on his last birthday. Damn it.

He walked absently to his bed and sat down. His good feelings from fucking were wearing off and all of his fear came crashing down on his head. He couldn't do this. He didn't know how to be a father, couldn't take care of Hanabi and a baby and he couldn't take on the whole Hyuuga family. He didn't even precisely want to get married. All he wanted was to be with Hanabi and fuck and know that she loved him. He was alone and he was scared. At that moment the idea of giving Hanabi up to her family and letting them solve everything by killing the baby seemed more than a little attractive. Then he was horrified and disgusted with himself.

Kaito dropped his head into his hands and did something he hadn't done since Akatsuki had him in its clutches. He cried. His tears hit the floor between his dirty sneakers with soft _splat _sounds.

"Hey," a voice whispered. Kaito raised his tear-streaked face.

Hiroto was leaning over the side of the top bunk, staring at him sleepily. Kaito tried to wipe his eyes, but the sight of his brother and the thought that he at least still had an unencumbered life ahead of him made him cry harder. He felt a savage jealousy on top of everything else and his breath began hitching in and out of him as sounds came from him at last. He was blubbering like a baby and he couldn't stop.

Hiroto was in a state of shock. He'd never seen Kaito cry, not once. What the hell had happened? He climbed off his bed and stood awkwardly in front of his big brother's shaking form, wondering what to do. "Did someone die?" he asked quietly.

Kaito was reminded of how his life was likely forfeit and cried even harder, moaning softly in his misery. Hiroto, truly alarmed now, moved toward the door. "I'm getting Uncle Sasuke."

"No!" Kaito sobbed. "Don't. Please don't, he'll kill me." Kaito's face was ravaged. He seemed nothing like the strong kid Hiroto looked up to. He just looked like a plain kid now, that was all.

Hiroto went back and sat next to him on the bed. "What is it? What happened?"

"Yeah," Kenji's voice interrupted them. He was sitting up on the bottom bed of the other bunk, rubbing his eyes. "Thought I was dreaming but it looks like you're really boohooing like a girl over there, Kaito. What happened?" Kenta was also awake now and leaning on an elbow, staring down at Kaito from the top bunk.

Kaito looked at the three concerned faces. He had to tell someone. "I'm in trouble," he said in a low quavering voice. "I'm in so much trouble that I don't think I'll survive." His voice cracked on the last word, fresh tears coursing hotly down his cheeks.

That had Kenta and Kenji leaping off their beds to crowd close to him. Hiroto edged closer, too. They were all three of them in his face, frowning seriously. If something was threatening their brother they planned to deal with it with extreme prejudice. "What kind of trouble," Hiroto said evenly.

Kaito had to swallow a few times before he could actually say the words. He told how he'd been meeting Hanabi for more than a month in secret, how she was pregnant and how he'd planned to marry her so no one would kill the baby or keep them apart. Halfway through the tale Kenta had silently left the room and come back with the rest of Kaito's siblings, down to Shouta. They all listened without interrupting. There were no snickers from Kenji at their brother having sex or swooning cries of how romantic Kaito's love was from Hiroko. They all realized the enormity of the situation.

When Kaito was done speaking he felt as if a weight had been partially rolled off his shoulders. He wiped his face and took deep steadying breaths.

Hiroto, the calm and reasonable brother, broke the thick silence. "Where's Hanabi now?"

"At my house, waiting for me to bring her documents. I don't know how I'm going to do that though. Her room is probably being watched. Even if I cloaked myself-"

"Leave that to me," Hiroko said. "I'll get the documents. Where are they?"

Kaito told her where Hanabi said she kept her papers. Hiroko cloaked herself then and there and left. Kaito stared after her. "Wait, what-"

"We got your back on this one," Kenji said by way of an explanation. "Did you think we'd let you face something like this alone? We're going to help. Nobody's going to kill our niece or nephew without a fight." Kenji turned to his twin. "Kenta go and sit with Hanabi. She needs more protection than a clone in case the Hyuugas find her before we can get back to her. Take the harpies with you."

Kenta nodded, leaving the room with Asami, Akane and Akiko behind him. Kaito looked up at his brothers and sisters from where he sat and felt a rush of humbling gratitude. He should have known his siblings would stick by him. Adults had come and gone in their lives but they always had each other. He stood up now and Sumiko hugged him. Then she smiled. "I'm going to be an auntie," she said. "I hope it's a girl."

The rest of them went to pack their bags. They moved quietly through the house, the sound of Naruto and Sasuke's loud lovemaking masking their whispers as they left and went to join Kenta and the harpies at Kaito's house. Hanabi ran to him when she saw Kaito. He explained what was happening and felt her relax against him. Hiroko showed up an hour later with the documents. "Sweet, how'd you manage it," Kaito breathed.

"Wasn't easy," the blond girl said. She'd had to cast a blanket Genjutsu on the entire estate, putting everyone into a dreamless sleep. She'd never done it before and the technique had almost slipped from her grasp when she found Hanabi's room crawling with Hyuugas. "They'll sleep until the technique is lifted from an outside source or until I release it myself."

Hiroko had also brought clothes for Hanabi who was very grateful. She thanked Hiroko and all Kaito's siblings with a deep bow.

They had to utilize Hiroko's Genjutsu abilities again to get past gate security, but once they were out of the village they sped off into the night without looking back.

* * *

They were married in Grass Country. Yukio and Juro had forged new documents for Kaito with disturbing ease in the short while they'd been at the house. Kaito obtain his marriage license and certificate with no trouble. Hanabi wore flowers in her hair that the harpies had given her and Kaito thought she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. The ceremony was over with quickly.

On their way back to the Leaf village it was decided that Hanabi should stay at Kaito's place from now on. "After all," Kaito said. "We're married now, that's where you belong. You'll be away from your family and I can protect you better."

"You can't protect her by yourself," Kenta said slowly. "You'll need our help. We'll all move in with you and Hanabi so someone is there with her all the time."

Kaito was nonplussed. In the end, though, he agreed. Juro snorted. "Like Uncle Sasuke's not going to notice us all moving out?"

"Well, we'll…have to tell him eventually I guess," Kaito said nervously. "But not yet, not right away. Let's not cross that bridge until we get to it."

But at the village gates Sasuke and Naruto stood waiting with about thirty Hyuuga Jounins. They did not look remotely happy. The first rays of the sun hit their faces brilliantly. Raiden peeked fearfully from behind Naruto's hip.

And that was how they were caught.

Hanabi was snatched by her father and pulled away from Kaito. She screamed, calling his name and reaching for him. Kaito lunged, grabbed her hand and hung on, but she was slipping away from him. Then Kenta was there, leading with a punch and a snarl to Hiashi's outraged face. Kenji was right behind him and then all the Uchiha kids attacked en masse. Raiden hesitated with a frightened glance at Naruto before jumping in to help. He sent most of the Hyuugas flying into the air with a blast of wind chakra. That allowed the Uchiha kids to surround Hanabi in a tight circle, facing outward. They all wore their Sharingan. Sumiko had her knives out.

"Alright, enough!" Sasuke roared. "Kaito you let that girl go to her family right no-"

"No," Kaito said. "She stays with me. She's my wife."

Naruto had remained silent, watching everything with folded arms and lowered brows. Now he spoke. "She's what?"

The Hyuugas were recovering enough to edge closer and listen in disbelief as Kaito and Hanabi told of how they'd been married mere hours ago. "That is utter _bullshit,_" Sasuke seethed. "You're a minor and I don't remember giving you my consent to marry anyone. The marriage is invalid. It can be annulled."

"No it can't," Hanabi spoke up in her low voice. "We've consummated our love. I'm carrying his baby."

That was when the shit really hit the fan. Ino hadn't told anyone Hanabi was pregnant. She'd only told Neji that Hanabi was gone. The medic nin had hoped to have Hanabi returned safely to the estate so that she could help her in private and avoid any unpleasantness. She liked Hanabi and hated seeing how the budding girl had become estranged from her family.

The Hyuugas had been in an uproar that one of their member was missing. Then the Genjutsu had fallen. Two Chuunins had come to the estate on business with Hiashi and found the estate asleep. They'd dispelled the technique and Hiashi had marshaled the clan. Hinata was still home with Shino this early in the morning and knew nothing about what was going on. A search of Hanabi's room yielded poems about Kaito. Hiashi stormed to the Uchiha compound and woke Sasuke and Naruto up with demands to know if his daughter was with the boy. Sasuke and Naruto had looked at him as if he were crazy. Then Nana-san's shriek that all the children except the babies were missing had floated down the stairs and Sasuke had nearly had a stroke. Naruto inspected their rooms. Then he, Sasuke, Hiashi and the gathered Hyuugas had gone to the village gate to ask the guards if the kids had passed them. Sasuke recognized Hiroko's handiwork in their vacant eyes. They'd all been standing there wondering where they could have gone when the sons of bitches themselves strolled into the village.

And now the girl said she was pregnant?

It was hard to say who leapt first. Hiashi howled in rage, reaching for Hanabi. Kaito shoved her behind him, but Sasuke was leaping for his throat and Naruto was making a grab for Sasuke. Raiden came through. He folded himself, his cousins and Hanabi the fuck out of there.

They ended up at Sasuke's house. Kenta and Kenji ran to barricade the door, the girls ushered Hanabi to their room and barricaded _that _door. Nana-san watched the activity, muttering under her breath. The triplets toddled back and forth, chasing their other siblings as they ran to lock windows. Aimi ran to her brother's side, sensing trouble. She hung on to his pants leg with her fat little hands.

Useless, of course. Sasuke crashed through the door as if it was nothing. Kaito faced him in the hall, trying not to let his fear show.

Naruto was right behind Sasuke. He grabbed his shoulder and held him back while he addressed Kaito in a breathless voice. "The Hyuugas are on their way over here right now. You'd better start explaining what happened before they get here or I'll get in your ass myself. Is that girl really pregnant?"

Kaito swallowed, looking back and forth between Naruto's serious blue eyes and Uncle Sasuke's blazing red ones. Forr the moment Sasuke let Naruto hold him back. Kaito felt all his brothers standing at his back. Kenta had a hand on his shoulder and Hiroto's arm pressed against his as he stood ready to face whatever was coming with his big brother. Kenji even had a tag in his hand. The knowledge that his brothers would stand by him against even Sasuke and Naruto gave Kaito courage. That and the fact that Hanabi was counting on him.

"Yes," Kaito said. "She's pregnant."

"And how did that happen?" Naruto asked.

Kaito's face reddened. Naruto grunted and rolled his eyes. "I know how it happened. I mean how have you been meeting her? How long has this been going on?"

"About six weeks, sir." Faced with Sasuke and Naruto's wrath, Kaito reverted to a tone of respect automatically.

"How did you manage it? How'd either of you manage to sneak away to go fuck for six damn weeks???" Sasuke was nearly apoplectic at the thought of being duped for so long.

Kaito wasn't going to sell Raiden out. None of his brothers behind his back did either. Kaito met the angry eyes of his uncles with a set expression of his own.

Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other as understanding dawned on them. They both turned their heads slowly to stare hard at where Raiden stood a little apart from the bigger boys. Raiden began backing stammering, Aimi still attached to his leg. Naruto swept over to him and snatched the kid up by an ear, yelling down at him furiously.

"_You?!_ You helped him do this, you little shit? What the fuck were you thinking, huh?" He shook Raiden by the ear he had pinched between his thumb and forefinger.

Raiden shrieked. His feet cleared the floor. He held onto his father's thick wrist, supporting as much of his weight as he could in an effort to keep his ear from being ripped from his head. He kicked and screamed and apologized profusely, but Naruto only shook him harder. Raiden felt as if his ear was coming detached. Kaito watched helplessly.

Aimi didn't. Her eyes turned yellow as she sent her daddy crashing against the house door with a blast of lavender chakra. Raiden was dropped. The door cracked down the center. Sasuke swore, stalked to his daughter and slapped her hard. Aimi spun to the floor. She turned her head slowly, her hair turning white as she looked at her Papa without feeling. A growl rumbled in her small body, shaking the entire hall, the floor and making Kaito and his brothers move away from her. Raiden, holding his ear, scooted to her quickly and grabbed her hand before she could do something really bad. He backed away from his daddies with her, going to stand with his cousins. Kaito put a comforting arm around him.

The Hyuugas showed up then. They shoved the door open rudely and exclaimed at seeing Kaito. Hiashi strode through their midst and demanded they hand over his daughter immediately.

Naruto realized the entire situation was getting out of hand. He sent a clone to go fetch Kakashi. This was beyond his meager stores of diplomacy. He joined Sasuke in shouting down the Hyuugas, saying nothing was going to be done until the Hokage arrived. Kaito hollered that Hanabi wasn't going anywhere and his brothers backed him up. Hiashi wanted to turn Kaito over to ANBU and Sasuke wasn't having that.

By the time Kakashi arrived war had almost broken out between the Hyuugas and the Uchihas. They all became quiet as Kakashi stepped calmly between the arguing parties. Naruto's clone had apprised him of the situation on the way there.

"Hiashi, Sasuke, Naruto. All of you come to my office so this can be discussed properly. I'll call the council to be present. Hiashi, tell your family members to leave the Uchiha compound. Naruto, before you join me and the others, take Hanabi to Konoha hospital. Tell Sakura that she is to remain with her exclusively until a decision is reached." Kakashi's voice was quiet, but brooked no argument.

Hiashi growled but left with his family. Sasuke gave a tight nod and Naruto bowed slightly. Kakashi left with Sasuke. Naruto gave Kaito and Raiden a scathing look before he pounded up the stairs.

The Uchiha girls fought him. Kyuubi dispelled whatever horror it was that Hiroko threw at him but he sustained a deep gash on his leg from one of the harpies. Sumiko rained down stunning blows on his head and shoulders. She'd gotten a lot stronger since Lee had taught her and Kaito. Naruto raged that it was on the Hokage's orders that he was taking Hanabi, but the girls refused to relinquish their new sister-in-law. He had to threaten them with Rasenshuriken, going so far as to begin prepping it with a clone before Hanabi turned herself over to Naruto. She didn't want Kaito's family hurt because of her. She'd heard the shouting and screaming from downstairs and it had frightened her badly.

Kaito ran to her as she walked past behind Naruto's cursing figure. He hugged her, told her everything was going to be alright. She clung to him, seeking the strength he offered until Naruto dragged her off of him. Kaito held to her hand for as long as he could, watching as she was pulled tearfully behind his uncle.

His brothers crowded around him, hugging him. The girls came downstairs and threw themselves into the group embrace. Kaito stood at the center of this loyalty, the tallest one among them. His eyes fell on Raiden who sat on the floor rubbing his ear. His face was bloody on that side, but he'd healed himself. Aimi sat near him, eyes still yellow, still rumbling deep in her chest. Kaito gently extracted himself and went to go give Raiden an awkward hug of his own. "You did great, Raiden. Really."

Raiden nodded sullenly. "Told you we'd get caught."

Kaito gave a sheepish half smile. They all settled down to await the verdict.

* * *

Pandemonium raged in the Hokage's office. Hinata had been summoned as Head Hyuuga. She waddled into the fray with Shino protectively at her side; she was due to deliver any day now.

Kakashi listened to all sides in silence, his hands steepled before his masked face as he leaned his elbows on his desk. His one eye moved from person to person as they spoke in turn.

Hiashi went first. "The Uchiha is a boy. The marriage is invalid. He cannot support her and she does not have our permission to marry. The pregnancy must be terminated."

"Why?" Hinata asked. "They made a mistake, they were wrong, but Kaito is willing to shoulder his responsibilities. I agree the marriage isn't valid, but we can raise the child with Hanabi."

"The kid goes by what his father is," Sasuke said stonily. "It's Uchiha, the kid stays with us."

"Preposterous," Hiashi spluttered. "The child-"

"Sasuke is right," Kakashi interrupted smoothly. "By law, a child goes to his father's family unless there are special custodial circumstances such as the case with Hinata's children with Kiba. There are no such circumstances here that I can see. The matter that needs to be decided is this: Does Kaito have parental permission to remain married? A minor may marry with permission from legal guardians. Hanabi is seventeen, legally an adult. She is allowed to make her own decisions." Kakashi looked at Sasuke expectantly.

Sasuke swallowed, hating to have this left up to him. "He can't support her. He doesn't make enough as a Chuunin to start a family."

"Come on, Sasuke, we can help him out," Naruto said.

Sasuke was forced to agree that they could. Kakashi took the documents Homura handed him. It was another marriage license. Sasuke signed his name. Naruto was sent to retrieve Kaito and Hanabi so that they could be re-married then and there.

Hiashi watched in livid silence.

* * *

Kaito fired questions at Naruto but the blond refused to answer beyond telling the distraught boy to follow him in a curt voice. Kaito's siblings followed at his heels, refusing to let Kaito face something without them. Raiden tried to go as well, but Naruto snarled at him to stay home. Raiden pouted and went back into the house.

Naruto showed up at the hospital with the small army of children and requested Hanabi. She ran to Kaito, asked him what was going on as he wrapped an arm around her. He said he didn't know. They followed Naruto in a tight huddle, scared and trying not to show it.

Kenji whispered to his twin. "Got your tags, man?"

Kenta nodded silently.

"Good. We may have to blow our way out of the Hokage's office since it looks like that's where we're heading. We might get kicked out of the village. You ready to be a missing-nin?"

Kenta nodded again. The other kids, hearing this, also said as how they'd be willing to go all the way for Kaito, his bride and the new baby. Akane said she wanted to start an organization of kick-ass kunoichi. Hiroko asked if she could join. Asami said no, that Hiroko was too nice and girly to join. Hiroko eyed Asami's perfectly styled hair, manicured nails and snorted. Girly indeed.

Once they arrived at the Hokage building they became quiet, releasing fantasies of life on the run to see what actually was going on. They all squeezed into the Hokage's office with difficulty. Kaito held Hanabi's hand tightly.

Kakashi announced that the newlyweds would be re-taking their vows in front of the assembled witnesses. Kaito was asked by the masked man if he objected. Kaito knew a wild moment of panic where he almost said yes. Then he felt Hanabi's hand in his and said no, he didn't object. Hanabi was asked if she objected and her voice was firm and strong. She didn't object. Kakashi stated as how Sasuke had given his permission and all that was required was Kaito and Hanabi's signature on the new marriage contract. The two young people signed nervously. Hinata burst into tears and jostled people aside to hug her sister. Shino congratulated Kaito with a serious handshake and Naruto folded Kaito into a hug. "It'll be okay, man," Naruto whispered into his ear. "You'll see. I was young and scared like you when Raiden was coming along, but Sasuke and I got through it. You'll get through this, too."

Kaito nodded numbly. Then his Uncle Sasuke was standing there in front of him, staring at him with hooded eyes. His face cracked slowly, first showing a tiny half smile, then a full smile, then a grin. He grabbed Kaito to him and ruffled the hair that was nearly on a level with his own. "Wait till Itachi hears how you're helping to rebuild the clan. The fucker will shit with pride."

Kaito was inclined to think otherwise, but kept his mouth shut. Hanabi was standing alone, eyeing her father warily. Kaito went to stand by her side.

Hiashi glared at them both, his Byakugan activated. Everyone in the room became silent as they looked at him. "You do not have my blessing," he said in a carrying hiss. "And you will not have that baby. Go. Live with your fornicating bastard of a husband. He has stolen you from this family. You are no longer Hyuuga."

Hinata opened her mouth to refute this, but Hiashi had by then left the room with an angry swirl of his graying brown hair.

No one spoke for a moment. Then everyone broke into renewed congratulations, trying to dispel the chill Hiashi had left. Kaito and Hanabi were the only ones not talking and cheering. They stood in the center of loud people looking at each other. That had been a threat. Their baby still wasn't safe. Hanabi went into Kaito's arms and he lowered his chin to her head. He felt hands clapping him on the back, but didn't respond. He was busily thinking.

* * *

Kaito's brothers and sisters moved in with him. Sasuke said it was ludicrous for Kaito to try living on his own; he and Hanabi could live with Sasuke and Naruto. Kaito had his pride, though. If he was going to be a man, the boy said, then he had to start acting like it. Sasuke argued with him, but Kaito was adamant.

His siblings were over the moon. Kaito impressed upon them the fact that it wasn't a party; he needed them in the house to protect Hanabi whenever he wasn't around. Even with some of the older kids receiving missions, someone would always be in the house with her. His siblings took it one step further: they offered to help Kaito support his bride with their earnings. Kaito allowed this with a touch of embarrassment, but it was still better than accepting charity from his uncle.

A lot of the villagers gave the young couple gifts. Shino and Hinata gave a set of stainless steel kitchenware. Kiba and Sai gave them a bedroom set and Chouji and Tenten gave them linens. The rest, though, came from Kaito's siblings. Yukio and Juro made most of the furniture. Hiroko made curtains and pillows and the harpies, Shouta and Sumiko painted the place. Hiroto, Kenji and Kenta went with Kaito on extra missions the Hokage sent their way. Hanabi and Kaito fucked vigorously whenever he was home. They couldn't get enough of each other.

* * *

A couple of months passed. Sasuke said he wasn't going to tell Itachi about Kaito's marriage or the baby after all; the jackass wanted to live away from his kids then he could damn well miss out on all the good stuff.

Hanabi woke one morning to find breakfast waiting by the bed. She smiled sleepily. Hiroko always left her breakfast by her bed if she was home from a mission. Living with Kaito's family, Hanabi was pampered and cherished the way she'd never been in her life. She sat up and began eating.

She usually spent her days with one or two of her new in-laws. The younger kids had school and the older ones were usually on missions. Sometimes Kenta stayed with her, sometimes it was Sumiko. Whoever it was, though, they never left her alone. Kaito had told his brothers and sisters of the possible threat from Hiashi.

Hanabi spent her time getting to know Kaito's wild yet fiercely protective siblings. She liked Hiroto a lot. He was sensitive and even-tempered. He liked doing artistic things. Kenta was very quiet, Kenji never stopped talking and the harpies frankly scared her. Those three ten-year-olds were aggressive in every way imaginable. They were keen on fashion and hairstyles while being the deadliest, most ruthless fighters Hanabi had ever seen. Yukio and Juro were also non-stop talkers. They were always showing her new things they were making. Shouta and Sumiko were close to each other, both sort of introverted types. Hanabi spent enjoyable hours with them, doing Taijutsu with Sumiko or playing games with Shouta.

Nana-san cooked for them. She brought food over from Sasuke's house and sometimes she cleaned for the children. Hanabi protested this. She was mistress of the house and wanted to act like it. She cleaned and tried to cook, but she'd never really been prepared to run a household. Nana-san helped her learn. Hiroko and Sumiko also helped teach her, having learned on the mountain and during the times their father had exclusive care of them.

Today when Hanabi went downstairs she found Hiroko doing the breakfast dishes in the bright kitchen. Hanabi sat down at the small white table, noticing the bunch of wildflowers in the glass vase. She commented on how pretty they were.

"It's getting chilly outside," Hiroko chirped in her cheerful voice. "Fall is really around the corner."

"I'm glad summer is over," Hanabi said. "It was way too hot."

"Ugh, I know. Hey, Kaito should be home by this evening from this last mission. Kenta, Kenji, Hiroto and Sumiko won't be back for a couple of days. I received a new mission this morning that I have to leave for this afternoon." Hiroko finished with the dishes and turned from the sink. She continued speaking as she wiped her hands on a dish towel. "Don't worry, you won't be alone for long. The kids will be home from the academy right after I leave. At most you'll be alone for an hour, ninety minutes tops."

Hanabi rushed to reassure the blond girl. "I'll be fine, don't worry. I have an appointment with Sakura today. I'll be at the hospital when you leave for your mission and the kids will be home by the time I get back. I still don't know how my family could be afraid of a bunch of children. I expected them to come for me against the Hokage's wishes."

Hiroko laughed. "Their not scared of us kids, really. It's more like they're scared of the Sharingan. But even more than that, they're probably scared of making Sasuke and Naruto mad. Sasuke told Hiashi that he and Naruto would be watching him."

Hanabi laughed with her. Then they sat around talking about baby names and wondering if it would be a boy or a girl.

* * *

"Naruto," Kakashi said. "We have that meeting with the delegation from the Land of Waves today. It will probably go on until sometime tonight. Do you want to let Sasuke know you'll be late today?"

"He's not back from that mission to Demon Country yet," the blond said. "And Nana-san is there to take care of Raiden, Aimi and the triplets until I get home."

Kakashi nodded.

* * *

Hiroko dropped Hanabi off at the hospital before leaving for her mission.

"Whew! Thank God it's Friday," Juro groaned as he entered Kaito's house. "No school tomorrow. This first week back was nothing but hell. Gai-sensei is an animal." He got a bottle of cold water from the fridge. "Yukio, you down for a little shuriken action in the backyard?"

"Yeah, lemme just check on Hanabi first." Yukio dropped his bag by the door to run upstairs.

"I want to practice, too," Shouta piped up.

"I'm doing my homework now so I can have the rest of the weekend to relax," Akiko said. Akane agreed with that plan. Asami was at the hospital. She took lessons with Sakura-san every day after school.

Yukio came thudding back down the stairs. "Hanabi's not here," he announced.

Juro was still by the fridge. He saw the note pasted there. "Says here she had an appointment at the hospital. Shouta, you go and escort her home."

"Aww, I wanted to do shuriken practice with you guys!"

"Juro, you and Yukio should go with Shouta," Akane suggested. "You know what Kaito said."

"I also know that you're older than I am so _you_ should be the one to go with him," Juro shot back. "I just got in the house. I need a minute, Jesus."

An argument flared up between them. Shouta rolled his eyes and went back out, heading for the hospital.

* * *

He arrived to find Hanabi just about to leave. She looked happy to see him. Shouta took her purse and carried it for her as he walked by her side. They talked animatedly about how the baby was growing. Shouta joked that she should name it after him if it was a boy.

Shouta was only eight, but he'd been through enough in his short life to sense when the attack came. He was turning his head to look behind him, his eyes going red when a flash of chakra sent him flying. He heard Hanabi scream as he turned in the air to land on his hands and feet. Hanabi was being dragged away by two Hyuuga men, already unconscious. There were a few villagers on the road. They saw what was happening. Some paused to watch, but most just hurried on their way. Danzo's influence was still too recent in their memories for them to want to involve themselves in obvious trouble.

The Hyuugas were running. "Tch!" Shouta slammed his palms on the road and sent a wave of his earth chakra through the ground. A crack zigzagged toward the fleeing Hyuugas. The ground erupted under their feet and they went flying, losing their hold on Hanabi. Shouta was already running toward them, concentrating chakra to his feet to lend himself speed.

"Gokakyu no Jutsu!" The fire did little more than distract the men long enough for Shouta to grab Hanabi and try to wake her as he dragged her to an alley. He sealed the alley with a wall of earth to buy himself a few minutes. He took the opportunity to send a Bunshin to get his brothers and sisters. "Hanabi," he yelled into her face. "Hanabi, wake up!"

It was no use. They'd hit her or something. There was blood on her head. Shouta wasn't big enough or strong enough to carry her. The Hyuugas came crashing through the wall and Shouta was no match for them in close combat. They broke his arm snatching her from his grasp and he was lucky they left it at that. He tried to follow them, but by the time he stumbled from the alley, they were gone. When Akane, Akiko, Juro and Yukio came running up a little while later, Shouta was already on his way back to the hospital. His brothers and sisters listened in horror as he told them what happened.

Sakura had Asami mend Shouta's arm as practice. Yukio, Akane and the others stopped talking about Hanabi until Sakura had pronounced Asami's efforts flawless and left. Then they all began talking in a rush.

"We have to get her back," Juro said in a fierce whisper. They were jogging back to the house. "They'll kill the baby if we don't."

"Newsflash, genius," Akane snapped. "Without Hiroko here we don't have a chance of getting into the Hyuuga estate. I _told_ you to go with Shouta. If you'd listened this never would have happened!"

"I didn't notice you going to bring Hanabi back," Juro retorted.

"Both of you shut up," Asami said. "Let's get uncle Naruto."

But they were told at the Hokage building that Naruto was in an important meeting. He couldn't be interrupted. And Uncle Sasuke was on a mission. The kids went back to the house, wondering what on earth they were going to do.

Kaito was home. He met them at the door with a smile. He waved a piece of paper in his hand. "I got back early and saw the note. Did you guys bring Hanabi back from the hospital?" He looked behind them as if Hanabi was lurking in the background. "Where is she?"

"She's gone," Shouta said. "Juro and Akane were supposed to come with me to go get her, but they stayed here arguing instead. I tried to stop the Hyuugas, but they took her." Shouta showed Kaito his cast. "I really did try, Kaito."

Kaito said nothing. He looked at Juro and Akane as those two individuals shrank away from him. Then he shoved past them and ran as hard as he could for Sasuke's house. He'd deal with them later, he thought wildly. Right now he needed help. After a second of staring at each other the kids all ran after him.

* * *

Nana-san shrieked in fright when Kaito burst through the door. "RAIDEN!" Kaito's voice boomed throughout the house.

Raiden came running down the stairs. "What!" Aimi was right behind him, using the banister to steady herself as she struggled to go down the stairs quickly.

Kaito went to go kneel in front of his cousin. "I know you got into a lot of trouble for doing this, but I need you to sense where Hanabi is right now."

Raiden noted the looks of fear on his cousins' faces and nodded. He closed his eyes.

He could sense her only faintly. Someone was doing something to her chakra. That made it almost impossible to locate her precisely. "I can barely feel her," he murmured. "And I can't feel the baby. Like, I can't feel its chakra like I used to be able to. I think…she's not at the estate. I think she's in some old building at the edge of the village." Raiden opened his eyes.

Kaito couldn't speak for a moment. His worst fears…please, no…"Take us there," he told his young cousin.

Raiden accessed his chakra and folded them to where he could feel Hanabi.

It was a small shack. Hiashi stood over his daughter where she lay on the filthy floor. A few other Hyuugas bent over her, doing something to her. Kaito went insane. He charged, his siblings to either side of him.

Raiden reacted immediately, folding them all out of there with Hanabi. Just before they dematerialized, he saw Hiashi make a grab for Hanabi's wrist.

They ended up outside the village, Raiden had no idea where. Kaito rushed to Hanabi's side. Juro screamed a warning; Hiashi had been dragged along. He reached Hanabi before Kaito did. Akiko was closest to the Hyuugas. She ran for Hanabi too.

They were all repelled with Kaiten. Hiashi leapt to where Hanabi lay sprawled and finished closing her Tenketsus with a speed that was blinding. Barely ten seconds had passed since they'd all appeared here.

"You're too late," Hiashi drawled when he straightened up. He looked at where Kaito was struggling to his feet "Her Tenketsus have been closed. The child will be dead inside her soon. You are welcome to her now. As you have stolen my child from me, so have I stolen yours from you." That was it. He turned from his daughter and leapt away into the trees.

Kaito couldn't believe it, wanted to go after him. Hanabi moaned. He got shakily to his feet and stumbled to where she lay stirring feebly. Asami was already there, maintaining Mystical Palm. Kaito looked to her worriedly. "The baby?" he said.

"I can't feel it," Asami said sadly. "Her Tenketsus will reopen by themselves eventually, but by then it might be too late. The baby needs her chakra to survive."

"Where are we," Juro said as he looked around. "Looks like we're right outside Land of Wind. We're close to Uncle Gaara's. Maybe we can take her to the hospital there."

"No, we should go back home," Yukio said. "Let Sakura save the baby."

"If we go back and the baby is saved, won't that bastard do this to her again?" Shouta asked.

"Uncle Naruto and Uncle Sasuke won't let that happen," Asami said.

"The thought of them didn't stop him this time," Kaito said in a toneless voice. He stroked Hanabi's hair, looking at her face as he spoke. "It won't stop him the next time. I need someone Hiashi is really scared of. I want him dead."

"You mean…" Akiko breathed. She put a hand over her mouth.

Kaito nodded. His brothers and sisters looked at him with wide eyes. Raiden looked back and forth between them. "Who are you talking about?" he asked.

"I'm talking about my dad," Kaito said. "We're going to Suna to get him. Hanabi can go to the hospital there."

They had to go slowly. Raiden offered to take Hanabi to Wyatt's but Kaito was nervous about going to another world. Raiden said it was just as well; deconstructing Hanabi now would likely finish the job of killing the baby. Even folding was out of the question.

Strong as he was, Kaito tired of carrying Hanabi long before they reached Suna. The harpies took turns carrying her between them as did Juro and Yukio. Then Kaito would take her back. Hanabi had regained consciousness, her chakra had returned, but she'd begun cramping so badly that she could hardly walk. Asami announced an hour outside of Suna that Hanabi had begun bleeding. Hanabi cried bitter tears. Kaito picked her up and ran with her the rest of the way.

* * *

The guards took them directly to the hospital on hearing they had an injured kunoichi among them. They recognized Itachi's kids. Gaara and Itachi were summoned to the hospital immediately. They met the children in the hospital corridor. Itachi went directly to Kaito, his eldest.

"Who's hurt? The guards said a girl, is it Hiroko? Sumiko? Where are the rest of you?" Itachi looked amongst his children as Gaara spoke to the nurse who'd just come out of Hanabi's room.

"It's my wife," Kaito said as he looked at his father. He hadn't seen the man in awhile. He was an inch taller than his dad now.

"Your…_who?_" Itachi stopped looking around to skewer his son with a piercing black stare.

Kaito told the tale briefly from beginning to end. Itachi's eyes turned red long before Kaito was finished, but whether from anger at his son or at Hiashi the children couldn't tell.

"I want you to kill him, Dad," Kaito said stonily. "I want vengeance."

Itachi stared at his boy. No, a man. This man was taller than he was, married, had made a child. Itachi realized he'd missed a lot being in Suna. He also realized that Sasuke was apparently keeping things from him. And Hiashi…oh, Itachi planned on stopping in Konoha, alright. No question. Attack his children, kill Uchiha seedlings? Itachi thought not. His blood boiled at the very injustice of it.

"I told you not to marry her," Itachi said now.

"I love her," Kaito said harshly. "Not everything is about the clan, Dad. Help me or not, but I'm not giving her up."

Itachi was pondering his son's words when the doctor came out Hanabi's room and looked at them all gravely.

"Is the baby okay?" Kaito asked nervously. "Is Hanabi?"

"Are you the father?" the man asked. Kaito nodded. "Well the girl is fine. She's healthy. We've done what we can to stabilize her. As for the child…"

Kaito straightened his shoulders, preparing for the worst.

"It's not clear yet if it will survive," the doctor finished quietly. "That remains to be seen. I can tell you though, that in cases like these the child rarely lives. Hanabi will likely miscarry."

Kaito sagged. Gaara put a hand on his shoulder in support. "I want to see her," Kaito said a second later.

The doctor allowed this. Kaito went into Hanabi's room alone.

* * *

She was pale, but awake. "Oh, Kaito." Her eyes were teary. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be," Kaito said softly. "Maybe the baby will pull through. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you. You must feel like you married a weakling."

"No! Never!"

Kaito went to sit by her bed. "They struck while you were virtually unattended. That tells me they waited for the opportunity. My brothers and sisters could have protected you. I could have. It's just…the strongest ones were out on missions…"

Hanabi realized he was trying to apologize for failing her. She put a hand to his beautiful mouth. "Stop. They did wonderfully. I'll always be grateful to them. They're all the family I have now, Kaito. And you. I love all of you."

Kaito put his head against her arm and bit back his howls of grief. She stroked his black hair soothingly until her eyes closed and she fell asleep. After awhile Kaito picked his head up and spoke to the small mound of her stomach. She was just going into her fourth month.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to the baby. "You know I would never have let anything happen to you. You're mine, just like your mother is. I'm so sorry." Kaito stayed with Hanabi until the doctor told him he had to leave.

* * *

Kenta, Kenji, Hiroto, Sumiko and Hiroko joined Kaito and the others in Suna with Naruto and Sasuke a few days later. Raiden had contacted his Daddy telepathically. Itachi confronted Sasuke with a solid punch to his younger brother's jaw. Heated words were exchanged. Sasuke was called a lax, inattentive, Naruto-obsessed waste of skin. Itachi was called a selfish motherfucker. Naruto was told to shut the fuck up when he tried to intervene.

* * *

Hiashi was found dead in the Hyuuga estate the following week. No one ever discovered who his murderer was.


End file.
